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I 


The  Life  of  Christ. 

By  REV.  WALTER  ELLIOTT,  C.S.P. 

•  An  intensely  interesting  narrative  of  the 
life  and  teachings  of  Christ  the  Redeemer. 
It  is  most  beautifully  gotten  up,  with  more 
than  a  thousand  illustrations. 

800  pag^es*  Price,  ^i.oo* 


Sermons  for  the  Eccle¬ 
siastical  Year. 

By  Very  Rev.  GEORGE  DESHON,  e.S.P. 

This  volume  contains  Sermons  for  every 
Sunday  and  all  Feast  days.  They  are  writ¬ 
ten  in  such  a  terse,  simple,  and  forcible  way 
as  to  make  the  volume  exceedingly  useful  in 
parochial  work. 

Pricey  4^1.00* 


TJHJ®  CATHOLIC  BOOK  nXCHANGMp 
xao  West  6otli  street,  Kew  irorlc* 


ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE 


BY 


-  VERY  REV.  1.  T.  HECKER 


Of  the  Congregation  of  St.  Paul 


I 


ii'TH  EDITION 


New  York 

THE  CATHOLIC  BOOK  EXCHANGE 
120  West  6oth  Street 


1904 


y 

CONTENTS 


K 


- 

PA«1 

I. — The  Dawn, 

•  • 

9 

II. — The  Reality, 

• 

• 

• 

15 

III. — Loyalty, 

•  • 

.  21 

IV. — Choosing  the  Way, 

• 

• 

• 

26 

V.— “  Man,”  \ 

Confessions 

VI. — “  Religion,”  > 

OF 

<  35 

VII  “  Chgeoh  ”  )  Earnest  Seeker. 

(  40 

VIII. — The  Search, 

• 

• 

• 

44 

IX. — Heathen  Philosophy, 

•  • 

.  49 

X. — German  Philosophy, 

# 

• 

68 

XI. — French  Philosophy, 

•  • 

.  68 

XII. — Aspirations  of  Reason, 

• 

• 

76 

XIII. — Admissions,  • 

•  • 

.  84 

XIV. — Testimony,  • 

• 

• 

• 

93 

XV. — Agreement^  • 

•  • 

.  99 

XVI. — Whither?  • 

• 

• 

• 

108 

4 


CONTENTS 


XVII. — Reason, 

XVIII. — Feee-Will, 

XIX. — Human  Hatuek, 

XX.  — Justification,  . 

XXI.  — Seotaeianism, 

^  XXIL — The  Results, 
XXIIL — Reason, 

XXI V.  — Continuation, 

XXV.  — Feee-Will, 
XXVI. — Human  Hatube, 
XXVII. — Continuation, 

XXVIII. — Justification,  . 
X  XIX. — Individuality, 
XXX. — Univeesality,  , 
XXXI. — CnuECH, 

XXXII. — Authoeity, 
XXXIH. — Appliances, 
XXXIV. — Fellowship, 
XXXV. — Memoeials, 
XXXVI. — Conclusion, 


PAe> 

.  115 
128 

.  141  * 

152 
.  162 
174 
.  193 
207 
.  219 
226 
.  238 
250 
.  262 
279 
.  292 
297 
.  312 
829 
.  844 
858 


PREFACE  TO  FOURTH  EDITION. 

This  volume  treats  of  the  relations  of  Reason  and  Reli¬ 
gion,  a  subject  which  occupies  the  attention  of  the  think¬ 
ing  men  of  the  day  even  more  than  at  the  time  of  the 
publication  of  the  first  edition.  Those  who  have  made 
but  a  superficial  study  of  the  matter  in  hand,  start  with 
the  idea  that  the  Catholic  Religion  and  Reason  are  an¬ 
tagonistic  to  each  other.  “  The  active  mind  of  the  cen¬ 
tury,”  it  is  said,  “  is  tending  more  and  more  to  the  two 
poles,  Rome  and  Reason,  the  sovereign  church  or  the  free 
soul,  authority  or  personality,  God  in  us  or  God  in  our 
masters  ;  and  though  a  man  may  by  accident  stand  half¬ 
way  between  these  two  points,  he  must  look  one  way  or 
the  other.” 

That  Protestantism,  as  a  system  of  religion,  has  placed 
itself  in  opposition  to  Reason  is  undeniable.  At  first  it 
set  aside  Reason  in  Religion  altogether,  and  held  that  a 
man  by  so  doing,  was  all  the  better  Christian.  Its  modem 
advocates  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Reason  while 
proclaiming  religious  dogmas  altogether  irreconcilable 
with  Reason.  Hence,  the  exercise  of  Reason  on  the  part 
of  a  Protestant,  must  necessarily  eliminate  from  his  mind 
all  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  his  creed. 

As  for  rationalists  who  deny  all  divine  revelation  and 
positive  Christianity,  before  they  have  any  right  to  hm 


0 


PREFACE. 


this  language  in  regard  to  the  Catholic  Religion,  they 
must  first  show  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Religion 
are  contrary  to  Reason  —  a  task  not  yet  accomplished. 
According  to  their  principles,  Religion,  on  the  one  hand, 
is  banished  to  the  regions  of  the  “  unknowable,”  and,  on 
the  other,  Reason  is  confined  in  its  operations  to  the  phe¬ 
nomena  which  fall  under  the  senses.  And  even  in  this 
sphere  of  its  exercise,  as  we  can  not,  according  to  their 
teaching,  be  sure  that  two  and  two  are  four,  it  is  therefore 
not  altogether  to  be  trusted.  Thus  pure  rationalism  leads 
logically  to  the  denial  of  both  Religion  and  Reason. 

The  refutation  of  these  common  errors,  with  an  exposi¬ 
tion  of  the  harmony  of  Reason  and  Divine  Revelation  as 
taught  by  the  Catholic  Church,  is  the  aim  of  this  volume. 

The  importance  of  the  principles  involved  in  this  dis¬ 
cussion  can  not  well  be  overrated.  They  concern  every 
one  who  would  have  intelligent  views  and  right  convic¬ 
tions  on  religion,  morals,  and  political  economy  ;  for  they 
form  the  basis  on  which  aU  these  great  interests  rest. 

They  concern,  above  all,  the  American  people,  whose 
religious  convictions  are  not  settled,  and  whose  free  insti¬ 
tutions  are  founded  on  principles  directly  contrary  to  the 
religious  dogmas  of  Protestantism. 


PREFACE  TO  FIRST  EDH  ON. 


This  book  claims  the  attention  of  a  large 
body  of  our  intelligent  countrymen. 

Many  of  them  are  born  and  brought  up  with¬ 
out  any  definite  religious  belief ;  and  no  sooner 
are  the  religious  aspirations  of  the  soul  awakened; 
than  they  go  forth  to  seek  a  religion  which,  while 
it  answers  and  supports  these,  does  not  gainsay 
the  dictates  of  Reason. 

Others  receive  early  religious  instructions,  and, 
as  soon  as  the  eye  of  Reason  opens,  they  find  that 
many  of  the  doctrines  taught  them  in  their  child- 
nood  and  youth,  violate  its  plainest  dictates,  and 
shock  the  clearest  convictions  of  conscience 


8 


PREFACE. 


Loyal  to  Keason,  they  repudiate  these  false  tenets 
and  endeavor  to  find  or  construct  a  religion  agree¬ 
able  to  the  laws  of  man's  intelligence,  and  com¬ 
mensurate  with  all  the  wants  of  Human  Nature. 

Another  class  have  discarded  all  denominable 
religions,  and  betake  themselves  to  the  different 
movements  of  the  day  in  hopes  of  obtaining  the 
solutions  of  the  dark  enigmas  of  life,  and  of  find¬ 
ing  the  satisfaction  which  their  religious  instincts 
demand. 

The  following  pages  are  addressed  to  these 
men.  Let  them  he  read  in  the  spirit  in  which 
they  were  written,  in  earnestness,  in  sincerity,  and 
in  unswerving  loyalty  to  Truth. 


THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


♦♦ 


I. 

“  How  beautiful  that  yesterday,  that  stood 
Over  us  like  a  rainbow  I  I  am  alone. 

The  past  is  past.”  Alex.  Smith. 


The  first  sensations  of  the  happiness  of  our 
being,  consist  in  the  pleasure  to  look  upon, 
and  enjoy  the  exquisite  charms  which  nature 
spreads  with  a  lavish  hand  every  where,  to  attract 
and  win  our  attention. 

The  flowers,  the  sea,  the  air,  the  sky,  the 
whole  earth,  is  instinct  with  and  breathes  a  life 
which  entrances  our  senses,  steals  into  and  dilates 
the  soul,  and  imparadises  the  heart. 

1* 


10  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

Nature,  in  all  and  through  all  things,  smiles 
m  us  in  our  childhood.  F ascinated  by  her  charms, 
we  yield  ourselves  willing  captives  ';o  hei*  em¬ 
braces,  and  are  happy  beyond  measure,  and  we 
know  it  not. 

Such  are  childhood^s  opening  scenes,  and  its 
early  blessings.  Were  these  only  lasting,  life 
would  seem  sufficient  joy,  and  earth  a  paradise. 

But  kind  nature  deceived  us.  We  were  not 
happy.  This  was  only  an  infant’s  dream  of  bliss  ; 
a  faint  echo  of  lost  Eden  ;  an  enchantment  whose 
charm  was  soon  broken  ;  and,  alas,  we  were  left 
alone  !  and  strangers  to  that  nature  which  ap¬ 
peared  as  though  it  were  bone  of  our  hone  and 
flesh  of  our  flesh.” 

Childhood’s  sweet  blossoms  are  crushed  ;  and 
we  And  ourselves  strangers  every  where,  to  every 
one,  to  our  own  selves  even  !  Mystery  covers  all 
that  hitherto  stood  open  to  our  gaze  and  seemed  so 
familiar.  It  is,  indeed,  strange  to  he  conscious  of 
loneliness  in  the  wide  world  of  things  and  exist¬ 
ences,  while  all  is  around,  and  so  near  us  !  To 
stand  apart,  to  feel  ourselves  outside  of  all  things  ! 
To  he  fearfully  alone,  and  to  discover  the  prophet 
speaking  our  own  language  :  I  beheld  the  earth, 
and  lo  it  was  void  and  nothing  ;  and  the  heavens, 
and  there  was  no  light  in  them.  I  beheld  the 


THE  DAWN. 


11 


birds  of  the  air,  they  were  gone,  and  lo  ther<  was 
no  man  !  * 

What  has  robbed  us  of  our  early  joys  ?  Is 
childhood's  blissful  vision  for  ever  gone  ?  Oh,  we 
ask  no  ray  of  light  to  see  into  the  future,  we  would 
be  a  child  again  ! 

Alas  !  its  fair  dreams  have  fled.  Keality  is 
making  its  prey  of  all  that  was  so  beautiful  to  be¬ 
hold.  The  flowers  look  faded  ;  the  song  of  the 
birds  is  cheerless  ;  the  air  has  lost  all  its  fresh  ¬ 
ness  ;  the  earth,  the  sea,  the  sky,  and  all  thingo 
are  as  though  they  were  not.  AU  is  void  :  the 
heart  forsaken  ;  paradise  is  closed  ;  the  golden  agt 
is  past ;  and  the  soul,  like  the  fabled  Psyche,  nc 
longer  content  with  past  imperfect  joys,  is  doomed 
to  toil  and  wo,  until  it  has  realized  the  promises  ol 
its  new-horn  capacities. 

This  is  life's  greatest  moment,  when  the  soul 
unfolds  capacities  which  reach  beyond  earth's 
boundaries.  We  seem  no  longer  the  beings  we 
were.  New  depths  are  broken  up  in  the  soul. 
Hidden  energies  come  forth  to  light.  A  fiesh  life 
stirs  within  us.  We  know  what  we  see  is  not 
what  we  seek,  and  what  we  seek  we  know  not. 
Dimly  opens  to  our  vision  a  loftier  and  fairer  world, 
promising  an  ampler  bliss.  The  soul  beholds  its 


*  Jeremiah. 


12  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

goal,  and  like  the  butterfly  which  has  escaped 
the  chrysalis,  finds  now  that  its  lot  is  away  ! 

All  great  minds  have  recognized  this  fact : 
that  man  has  capacities  to  conceive  sublime 
truths  ;  powerful  aspirations,  noble  presentiments 
which  carry  the  soul  beyond  the  region  of  sense, 
and  lead  it  on  to  that  brighter  world  where 
dwells  the  First  True,  the  First  Good,  the  First 
Fair — the  eternal  type  of  all  perfections,  and  aim 
of  all  our  strivings  ; — 

“  That  even  in  savage  bosoms 
There  are  longings,  yearnings,  strivings 
For  the  good  they  comprehend  not.”  • 

It  is  written  on  every  page  and  breathed 
through  all  the  works  of  genius.  The  philoso¬ 
phers,  from  Plato  to  Kant,  vainly  strove  to  sound 
these  secret  depths  of  the  soul ;  the  poets,  from 
the  author  of  Prometheus  Bound'"  to  the  author 
of  the  “  Intimations  of  Immortality,'"  exhausted 
their  gifts  to  express  it  ;  the  pencil  and  the 
chisel  have  alike  failed  adequately  to  embody  this 
mysterious  birth  of  the  conscious  soul, — a  birth 
which  is  the  starting  point  of  all  philosophy,  the 
ideal  of  all  genius,  and  the  basis  of  all  religious 
beliefs. 


*  HlAwathA. 


THE  DAWN. 


13 


No  man  of  the  world  can  be  wholly  unaware 
of  the  moment  in  his  soul's  history  when  he  first 
became  distinctly  conscious  of  his  own  personal 
existence.  It  is  this  fact  which  throws  so  strange 
an  interest  around  that  most  beautiful  creation  of 
genius,  Undine. 

How  many  hearts  have  thrilled  ;  how  many 
a  one  has  recognized  that  the  sentiments  are 
drawn  from  the  secret  depths  of  his  own  being, 
which  Undine  expresses,  when  she  exclaims,  half 
musing  with  herself,  half  inquiring  from  her  new¬ 
found  teacher  : 

“  ^  There  must  be  something  lovely,  hut  at  the 
same  time  something  most  awful  about  a  soul  ! 
In  the  name  of  God,  holy  man,  were  it  not  better 
that  we  never  shared  a  gift  so  mysterious  ? ' 

“  She  paused  and  restrained  her  tears  as  if 
waiting  for  an  answer.  She,  however,  seemed 
to  have  eyes  for  no  one  but  the  holy  man  ;  a  fear¬ 
ful  curiosity  was  painted  on  her  features,  and  this 
made  her  emotion  appear  terrible  to  others. 

‘  Heavily  must  the  soul  weigh  down  its  pos¬ 
sessor,'  she  pursued,  when  no  one  returned  her 
any  answer ;  ‘  very  heavily  !  for  already  its  ap¬ 
proaching  image  overshadows  me  with  anguish 
and  mourning,  and,  alas  !  I  have  tiU  now  been  so 
merry  and  light  hearted,' "  * 

*  Undine,  Qh. 


14  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

Every  effort  to  undo  the  sours  recognition  of 
the  great  fact  of  its  existence,  seems  but  to  fix  it 
more  firmly.  We  may  writhe  and  struggle  ;  we 
may  resolve  to  be  as  we  were,  and  these  efforts  tend 
only  to  make  this  mysterious  and  new-awakened 
life  more  powerfully  felt.  For  weal  or  for  woe 
it  is 

“  Born  to  perish  never, 

Which  neither  listlessness  nor  mad  endeavor, 

Nor  man,  nor  boy, 

Nor  all  that  is  at  enmity  with  joy 
Can  utterly  abolish  or  destroy.*’* 

*  Wordftrofli. 


n. 

*  These  struggling  tides  of  life  that  seeai 
In  wayward,  aimless  coarse  to  tend. 

Are  eddies  of  the  mighty  stream 
That  rolls  to  an  appointed  end.'* 

Bryant. 

rpHE  soul  naturally  aspires  to  something  which 
i  is  better,  higher,  nobler,  greater  than  itself. 
This  aspiration  is  no  fiction.  For  every  act  of  a 
created  being  presupposes  other  existences. 

We  cannot  think  where  there  is  nothing  to  he 
thought.  We  cannot  love  where  there  is  nothing 
to  he  loved.  We  cannot  act  where  there  is  nothing 
whereupon  to  act.  Nothing  can  come  of  nothing. 

The  denial  of  this  is  the  denial  of  the  things 
we  see,  touch,  taste,  hear  and  smell  ;  it  is  the 
denial  of  our  own  existences,  the  world's  existence, 


16  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

and  God's  existence.  It  is  the  denial  of  all  things. 
F or  the  evidence  of  our  being,  and  the  evidence 
of  the  world's  being,  and  the  evidence  of  God's 
being,  are  seen  simultaneously,  and  enter  into  one 
and  the  same  fact  of  consciousness. 

And  the  certitude  of  their  several  existences, 
is  of  equal  authority  ;  for,  although  the  organs 
through  which  Keason  operates  are  not  precisely 
of  the  same  character,  nevertheless  Keason  is  one 
and  indivisible,  and  is  of  equal  authority  in  all 
that  it  duly  attests. 

Every  operation  of  our  faculties,  therefore,  is 
an  incontestable  evidence  of  the  real  being  of 
something  independent  of  our  own  being. 

The  certainty  of  our  faculties  is  not  only  in¬ 
contestable  in  regard  to  the  fact  of  other  existences, 
their  certainty  is  equally  incontestable  in  regard 
to  the  qualities  and  characteristics  of  those  exist¬ 
ences. 

A  rose  does  not  affect  us  in  the  same  way  as  a 
fine  strain  of  music  ;  the  sight  of  the  ocean  does 
not  excite  the  same  emotions  as  the  society  of  our 
friends  or  families  ;  the  remembrance  of  the 
traitor  Arnold  produces  quite  different  impres' 
sions  from  that  of  the  patriot  Washington. 

Whilst  we  have  remained  the  same,  we  have 
been  subject  to  very  diverse  impressions.  Why 


THE  REALITY. 


17 


is  this  ?  The  reason  is  simple  and  plain.  The 
objects  before  ns  were  changed,  and  these  being 
of  a  different  cliaracter,  we  were  consequently  dif¬ 
ferently  affected.  For  it  is  not  the  mind  that 
creates  things,  or  originates  their  qualities  or 
characteristics,  but  it  is  these  which  inform  and 
shape  the  mind. 

The  mind,  therefore,  takes  cognizance  of  the 
existence  not  only  of  things,  but  also  of  their  qual¬ 
ities  and  characteristics,  and  its  authority  is  no  less 
reliable  in  the  latter  functions  of  its  activity  than 
in  the  former. 

But  the  cognizance  of  existences  and  of  their 
qualities  is  the  cognizance  of  Truth, — for  Truth  is 
all  which  is  or  exists.  The  mind  of  man,  there¬ 
fore,  is  the  organ  of  Truth. 

We  take,  therefore,  our  stand  upon  the  un¬ 
questionable  certitude  of  our  faculties,  and  wUl 
permit  no  attempt  to  undermine  their  authority. 

A  well-organized  and  healthy  mind  will  not 
allow  an  entrance  to  the  slightest  doubt  concern¬ 
ing  the  evident  authority  of  the  operations  of  its 
own  faculties. 

To  entertain  such  a  doubt  is'  no  mark  of  wis¬ 
dom,  but  rather  a  proof  of  folly.  For  it  involves 
the  palpable  absurdity  of  proving  that  worthless 
which  serves  as  the  basis  and  instrument  of  proo£ 


18  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

Existence  is  not-a  dream,  but  a  solemn  reality. 
Life  was  not  given  to  be  thrown  away  on  miserable 
sophisms,  but  to  be  employed  in  earnest  search 
after  Truth. 

There  is  a  doubt,  however,  which  springs  from 
a  deficiency  of  evidence,  or  from  a  lack  of  informa¬ 
tion.  This  we  respect,  for  it  is  an  honest  doubt — 
a  mark  of  an  honest,  and  the  sign  of  the  working 
of  an  independent  mind.  It 

“  Springs  like  a  shoot,  around  the  stock  of  truth  ; 

And  it  is  nature,  from  height  to  height, 

On  to  the  summit  prompts  us.”  * 

The  other  kind  of  doubt,  the  pretended  doubt, 
the  one  which  professes  to  doubt  whether  the  light 
we  see  be  light,  or  whether  what  we  know  we 
know  ;  this  is  mental  cowardice,  or  the  symptom 
of  a  diseased  intellect. 

One  day.  Dr.  Johnson  was  asked  by  Boswell 
what  he  thought  of  the  pretended  demonstration 
of  certain  would-be  philosophers  of  the  non¬ 
existence  of  matter  ?  The  Dr.  answered  with 
alacrity  by  striking  his  foot  with  mighty  force 
against  a  large  stone  till  he  rebounded  from  it, 
I  refute  it  thus.” 

Let  those  whom  this  answer  does  not  suffice^ 


*  Dant*. 


THE  REALITl. 


19 


be  sent  to  an  Insane  Asylum  ;  for,  according  to 
their  own  showing,  if  one  has  no  certitude  of  any 
thing,  they  condemn  themselves  to  an  eternal 
silence,  or  to  talk  nothing  hut  nonsense. 

To  douht,  therefore,  the  evidence  of  our  facul¬ 
ties,  is  a  sign  of  an  unsound  intellect  ;  to  deny 
the  authority  of  their  evidence,  is  to  banish  one¬ 
self  outside  of  the  domain  of  Keason,  and,  let  us 
add,  out  of  that  also  of  humanity. 

For  the  men  that  history  enshrines  on  her 
immortal  pages,  the  men  whose  memories  are 
embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  their  fellows  for  all 
ages,  were  men  who  placed  unfaltering  trust  in 
the  loftiest  comdctions  of  the  soul,  and  consecrated 
Life  and  death  to  their  reahzation. 

Men  whose  minds  were  of  this  temper  the 
whole  human  race  cherish  with  enthusiasm  and 
deathless  attachment.  Nations  rear  monuments 
to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  their  noble 
deeds.  The  hare  mention  of  their  names  causes 
the  hearts  of  men  to  palpitate  with  life,  and  fires 
the  breasts  of  millions  with  heroic  resolves.  Such 
is  the  faith  of  man.  These  are  the  sentiments  of 
numanity.  And  sentiments  of  such  majesty,  im¬ 
parted  to  the  entire  human  race,  can  not  hut  he 
the  impressions  of  the  Divinity. 

A  philosophy,  therefore,  which  does  not  justify 


20  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

and  support  the  high  and  glorious  promises  of  our 
nature,  misapprehends  the  powers  of  Keason,  fails 
to  recognize  the  nobility  of  the  soul,  is  false  to  its 
mission,  and  deserves  not  a  thought  of  a  human 
being  who  respects  himself,  or  who  comprehends 
the  great  end  of  existence. 

Besting,  then,  on  the  primary  certitude  of  the 
operations  of  the  human  faculties  as  an  incontest¬ 
able  and  immovable  basis,  we  affirm  with  their 
authority,  and  that  of  their  great  Author,  that  the 
very  fact  of  the  soul's  possessing  convictions  which 
stretch  forth  beyond  earth's  horizon,  is  indisputable 
evidence  of  a  world  of  realities  corresponding  to 
them. 


ni. 

fBSalts. 

“  0*11  to  mind  from  whence  ye  sprung ; 

Ye  were  not  formed  to  live  the  life  of  brntea; 

But  virtue  to  pursue,  and  knowledge  high.” 

Dantb. 

Man  is  gifted  with  an  intelligence  to  see  natu¬ 
rally  into  a  world  of  more  momentous  real¬ 
ities,  and  as  surely,  as  he  sees  with  his  eyes  the 
material  objects  in  the  world  around  him.  This 
world  of  unrealized  realities  is  within  his  reach. 

For  what  reason  has  man  in  being,  if  the 
'  noblest  desire  of  his  breast  is  the  thirst  after  truth, 
and  the  truth  does  not  exist,  or  exists  beyond  the 
scope  of  his  capacities  ?  If  this  he  man's  lot, 
then  better  were  we  quiet  earth  again,  or  rather, 
better  had  we  never  been  aught  but  dust  I 


22  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE, 

But  the  fault  does  not  lie  here,  for  truth  does 
exist  ;  the  striving  after  it  is  ample  evidence  that 
it  does.  Nor  is  man  doomed,  Tantalus-like,  to 
strive  after  truth  in  vain  ;  for  reason  was  given 
the  capacity  to  lay  hold  of  truth.  The  fault,  then, 
is  not  on  the  side  of  truth,  or  in  our  faculties. 

Wherein  lies  the  fault  ?  The  fault  is  in  our 
neglect  to  use  our  faculties,  or  in  not  using  them 
rightly. 

And  truth  is  not  an  ugly  and  merciless  sphinx, 
but  a  fair  and  gentle  maid.  Eagerly  she  goes 
forth  to  meet  the  earnest  seeker,  and  is  easily 
won  by  the  heroic  lover.  Earnestness  in  the 
search  after  truth,  heroism  in  following  it  when 
found,  these  are  the  essential  requisites  for  those 
who  aspire  to  her  friendship  and  love. 

With  a  manly  heart  and  hold  resolves  there  is 
no  true  conception  of  the  mind,  no  real  aspiration 
of  the  heart,  which  may  not  he  reached  and  real¬ 
ized.  Else  desire  was  given  to  no  end.” 

Indifference  or  unconcernedness  in  regard  to 
the  realization  of  the  bright  inspirations  of  divine 
truths,  is  no  mark  of  a  noble  mind.'  This  is  an 
unmistakable  evidence  of  the  absence  of  those 
original  convictions  which  constitute  the  soul's 
nobility  and  the  dignity  of  our  nature. 


LO Y ALT  y  . 


23 


Fame  of  such  the  world  l  ath  none, 

Nor  suffers ;  Mercy  and  Justice  scorn  them  both. 

Speak  not  of  them,  but  look,  and  pass  them  by.”  • 

These  lofty  aspirations,  these  boundless  in¬ 
stincts,  are  traces  of  man’s  native  nobility,  and 
indicate  the  grandeur  of  his  destiny.  We  should 
cherish  them  as  our  fondest  hopes,  and  hold  them 
dearer  than  life.  Better  live  in  a  tub  like  Dioge¬ 
nes,  and  feed  on  wild  roots,  than  submit  to  the 
dreadful  degradation  of  yielding  them  up  unreal¬ 
ized.  For  man  has  no  other  reason  for  living, 
but  to  unite  his  noblest  capacities  to  their  proper 
objects.  This,  and  this  alone,  is  the  accomplish¬ 
ment  of  the  great  end  of  his  present  existence. 

They  give  up  the  soul,  and  shrink  into  the 
grovelling  instincts  of  the  worm,  who 

“  Pause  not  to  inquire 
Why  we  are  here,  and  what  the  reverence 
Man  owes  to  man.  and  what  the  mystery 
That  links  us  to  the  greater  world,  beside 
Whose  borders  we  but  hover  for  a  space.”  t 

Our  sublime  destiny  and  supreme  happiness 
lie  in  the  answer  to  our  highest  aspirations.  The 
highest  objects  correspond  to  our  highest  capacities. 
Above  Beason  there  is  the  Most  High  alone. 


*  D»nt«. 


t  Biyant. 


24  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

The  Most  High  is  the  answer  to  our  high  aspira¬ 
tions  and  glorious  destiny.  Nothing  less  than 
the  Infinite  can  content  man's  noble  and  most 
sovereign  Reason. 

But  the  relation  of  the  soul  with  the  infinite 
is  Religion.  Religion,  therefore,  is  the  answer  to 
that  cry  of  Reason  which  nothing  can  silence,  that 
aspiration  of  the  soul  which  no  created  thing  can 
meet,  that  want  of  the  heart  which  all  creation 
cannot  supply. 

Where  shall  we  find  Religion  ? 


IV, 


C|0«sing  Mai. 

“  One  good  gift  has  the  fatal  apple  given — 

Your  Eeason : — ^let  it  not  be  oversway’d 
By  tyrannous  threats  to  force  you  into  faith 
’Gainst  all  external  sense  and  inward  feeling.” 

Bvbom. 

ri^HERE  is  a  large  class  of  men  who  cherish  the 
JL  lofty  aspirations  of  their  nature,  and  are  loyal 
to  their  religious  convictions.  They  feel  deeply 
their  religious  necessities,  and  yearn  and  seek 
after  a  religion  which,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
answers  to  these  wants,  does  not  contradict  the 
universal  dictates  of  reason. 

We  have  it  from  authentic  sources  of  informa¬ 
tion,  that  this  class  of  minds  compose  more  than 
one-half  of  our  population  who  have  arrived  at  the 
age  of  manhood  ;  and  it  includes  many,  if  not 
2 


-26  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OP  NATURE. 


most  of  our  intellectually-gifted  and  noble-minded 
countrymen. 

What  has  brought  about  this  state  of  things  ? 
Does  it  spring  from  a  want  of  religious  sentiment, 
or  earnestness  on  their  part  ?  We  opine  that  it 
does  not.  No  people  are  more  susceptible  ol 
religious  impressions,  no  people  are  more  in  earnest 
in  all  that  regards  religion,  than  the  American 
people.  Witness  the  countless  churches,  the  Sun¬ 
day-school  unions,  missionary  enterprises,  Bible 
and  Tract  societies,  and  other  religious  institu¬ 
tions,  broadcast  over  this  extensive  land.  The 
man  who  would  charge  our  people  with  infidelity, 
skepticism,  or  indifference  in  religious  matters, 
would  only  display  his  unacquaintance  with  the 
heart  and  mind  of  the  nation. 

'What,  then,  is  the  cause  of  this  strange  phe¬ 
nomenon  of  a  people  sincerely  and  earnestly  re¬ 
ligious,  and  yet  having  no  fixed  Christian  belief  ? 
Ask  them,  and  those  who  have  refiected  will  an 
swer,  in  the  lines  of  the  poet  Schiller  : 

‘  What’s  my  Religion  ?  None  of  all  the  sects 
Which  thou  hast  named.  And  why  not  7 
From  Religion.” 

The  prevailing  beliefs  have  presented  Keligion 
in  such  a  light  that  men  of  mature  thought  could 


CHOOSING  THE  WAY. 


27 


not,  without  a  feeling  approaching  to  shame,  and 
a  certain  sense  of  self- degradation,  submit  to  their 
pretensions. 

If  Christianity  be  presented  to  men  in  such  a 
way  as  to  leave  but  the  one  choice,  either  to  become 
fanatics  or  to  profess  no  religion,  where  is  there  one 
who  possesses  a  spark  of  reason,  or  has  a  manly 
feeling  in  his  breast,  that  would  not  rather  stand 
aloof  from  all  religious  sects,  and  pay  such  worship 
to  his  Creator  as  accords  with  the  dictates  of 
Reason  and  the  inward  convictions  of  the  soul  ? 
Reliance  on  the  rational  convictions  of  our  nature 
is  the  first  ot  ail  duties. 

The  time  is  gone  by  when  men  can  easily  be 
made  to  believe  that  that  is  Religion  which  leads 
its  votaries  to  contradict  the  dictates  of  Reason,  or 
trample  down  the  convictions  of  conscience.  Nor 
does  it  sound  well  in  the  ears  of  an  enlightened 
people,  to  tell  them  that  the  first  step  to  Religion 
is  to  abdicate  that  which  distinguishes  man  from 
the  brutes  which  perish. 

A  large  class  of  intellectual  men  share  the 
conviction,  that  the  only  stable  foundation  for 
Religion  is  the  human  intelligence.  They  pro¬ 
claim  it  openly  to  the  world,  that  Religion  is 
yet  to  be  settled  on  its  fast  foundations  in  the 
breast  of  man.” 


28  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

This  is  the  great  object  to  be  aimed  at  in  the 
present  age.  Would  that  those  whom  it  concerns 
understood  it !  Never  can  that  be  God's  Keligion 
which  gainsays  Keason's  dictates  and  shocks  the 
feelings  of  our  moral  nature. 

The  present  generation  of  men,  having  receded 
from  the  common  systems  of  Christian  belief  as 
unsatisfactory,  have  fallen  back  upon  Human  Na¬ 
ture.  Human  Nature  alone  can  be  taken  for 
granted.  The  Keligion,  therefore,  that  is  to  meet 
the  wants  of  the  age,  and  answer  its  demands, 
must  take  its  starting  point  from  man's  nature. 
It  is,  therefore,  upon  the  essential  and  indestruc¬ 
tible  elements  of  Human  Nature  that  Keligion, 
particularly  in  this  country,  has  to  raise  the  foun¬ 
dations  of  its  temple.  The  sanctuary  of  Keligion 
must  be  restored  to  the  place  where  the  God  of 
nature  placed  it,  in  the  human  soul. 

The  work  of  doubt,  denial,  destruction,  is 
ended  ;  it  awakens  no  enthusiasm.  The  cry  for 
edification  is  heard  abroad  in  the  land. 

Wearied  with  fruitless  search,  disgusted  with 
mere  negation,  freed  from  the  awful  nightmare  of 
doubt,  the  time  for  action  is  at  hand.  The  age 
demands  a  Keligion  which  unites  reverence  for  God 
with  a  profound  respect  for  the  divinely-gifted  in¬ 
telligence  and  the  heaven-born  freedom  of  man. 


CHOOSING  THE  WAI. 


29 


Say  not  that  an  inquiry  after  the  true  Religion 
is  not  called  for.  It  is.  The  teachers  followed 
by  our  Fathers  are  destitute  of  the  truths  which 
the  age  demands.  It  is  the  cry  of  Reason,  of  the 
Soul,  of  all  earnest  minds,  of  the  people  of  our 
country.  They  demand  a  Religion  which  opens  a 
future  worthy  of  their  youthful  energies,  which 
answers  to  their  high  aspirations,  and  elicits  from 
their  hearts  deeds  of  generous  and  noble  self- 
sacrifice. 

What  else  is  the  meaning  of  aU  the  modern 
spiritualisms  and  evocations  of  departed  spirits, 
except  that  the  religious  sentiment,  finding  in  the 
common  system  of  modern  religious  belief  no  satis¬ 
factory  support  or  adequate  answer  to  its  demands, 
goes  blindly  groping  about  in  its  distress  among 
the  realms  of  the  dead  to  discover  something 
which  will  satisfy  its  deep,  deathless,  and  irre¬ 
sistible  yearnings  ? 

We  must  therefore  suffer  the  insupportable 
yearnings  of  our  religious  nature,  or  find  the  Re¬ 
ligion  which  will  afford  them  ample  satisfaction. 

The  question  of  Religion  is  not  a  question  of 
opinion.  The  question  of  Religion  is  one  of  life 
and  death.  To  attempt  to  be  and  live  without 
Religion  is  a  gross  injustice  to  our  Reason,  a  cruel 
mutilation  of  our  nature,  and  an  insult  offered  to 


30  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

God.  To  be  without  Religion  is  to  be  not  a  man, 
but  a  monster.  Our  people  are  famishing  for  it  ; 
and  we  must  have  religion,  the  true  Religion,  or 
die, — die  of  despair  or  inanition.  For  Religion  is 
raan^s  inmost  being  and  existence. 

We  may,  however,  be  told  that  this  inquiry 
after  the  true  Religion  is  difficult  ?  Difficult  ! 
Well,  suppose  it  is,  what  then  ?  Are  we  not 
here  to  conquer  difficulties  ?  For  what  purpose 
was  the  light  of  Reason  bestowed  on  man  if  not 
to  discover  the  Truth  ?  For  what  purpose  was 
the  strength  of  his  will  given,  if  not  to  employ  it 
in  search  of  Truth  ?  No  !  truth  is  not  so  difficult 
of  discovery  as  some' would  have  us  believe.  Truth 
is  ever  ready  to  show  herself  to  the  sincere,  the 
earnest,  and  hastens  to  the  arms  of  the  ingenuous 
lover. 

Let  us  give  ear  to  the  cry  of  an  “  Earnest 
Seeker.'^ 


“THE  CONFESSIONS 

OF 

“AN  EARNEST  SEEKER/' 


T717E  are  conscious  of  an  intense  and  painful 
I  T  void  within  our  breast.  How  are  we  to  be 
relieved  of  this  ?  Relief  there  must  be,  for  it  is 
insupportable.  The  insensibility  of  death  were 
preferable.  Forgetfulness  a  boon. 

“  Forgetfulness — 

Of  what, — of  whom, — and  why 
Of  that  which  is  within  me ; 

Read  it  there — 

Ye  know  it,  and  I  cannot  utter  it.”* 

“  The  world  may  appear  beautiful  ;  the  ties 
of  friendship,  kindred,  love,  seem  dear  and  sweet ; 


*  Byron. 


32  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

life  may  appear  full  of  hope  and  bright  prospects  ; 
Alas  !  what  are  all  these  joys  to  the  soul,  so  long 
as  deeper  needs  deprive  us  of  their  enjoyment  ? 

“  A  different  object  do  these  eyes  require ; 

My  lonely  anguish  melts  no  heart  but  mine , 

And  in  my  heart  the  imperfect  joys  expire.”  • 

“  All  sacrifices  would  he  to  us  as  steps  to  bliss, 
and  renunciation  enjoyment,  so  that  we  found 
what  answers  to  our  nobler  necessities.  A  journey 
to  the  torrid  zone,  were  we  sure  to  meet  it  there, 
would  be  but  a  trip  of  pleasure.  Somewhere  it 
must  he  ;  if  not,  the  heavens  will  reveal  it.  This 
confidence  is  stronger  than  death. 

Thank  God  !  w©  were  left  unfettered  and 
unswayed  in  our  belief,  in  our  childhood  and 
youth.  W e  are  in  our  full  manhood,  in  possession 
of  our  reason  and  freedom.  Happy  is  the  man 
who  is  ready  to  receive  the  whole  of  God's  ever¬ 
lasting  truth,  and  searches  after  it  with  all  the 
energies  of  his  being. 

The  possession  of  Truth,  not  the  simple 
search  of  it,  is  the  true  end  of  Keason  and  the 
source  of  all  true  life.  Whenever,  therefore,  the 
Truth  is  presented  to  the  mind  with  rational  and 
sufficient  evidence,  it  matters  not  by  whom,  to 

♦  Gray 


V 


THE  ^‘seeker's  confessions.”  33 


withhold  one's  assent,  is  to  reduce  Keason  to  the 
ignominious  servitude  of  passion,  and  to  inflict 
upon  the  soul  the  most  painful  of  deaths, — the 
death  of  inanition. 

“  The  slave  is  noble,  his  chains  brilliant  orna¬ 
ments,  he  is  free,  in  comparison  with  the  man 
who  enslaves  his  godlike  Reason  by  his  passions, 
shackles  it  by  his  prejudices,  or  lets  it  rust  unused 
from  slavish  fears. 

Reason  affirms  its  own  authority,  and  can 
admit  of  no  other  which  does  not  support  its 
claims,  and  coincide  with  its  dictates.  Of  all 
forms  of  slavery,  that  of  the  soul  is  the  most 
abject,  degrading,  and  cruel.  The  negro  slave 
possesses  his  soul,  hut  the  man  who  yields  up  the 
authority  of  his  Reason,  abdicates  his  manhood, 
and  renders  his  soul  a  chattel. 

Endowed  with  Reason,  man  has  no  right  to 
surrender  his  judgment.  Endowed  with  Free- 
Will,  man  has  no  right  to  yield  up  his  liberty. 
Reason  and  Free-Will  constitute  man  a  respon¬ 
sible  being,  and  he  has  no  right  to  abdicate  his 
independence.  Judgment,  Liberty,  Independence, 
these  are  divine  and  inalienable  gifts  ;  and  man 
cannot  renounce  them  if  he  would. 

“  As  an  intellectual  being,  man  has  the  right 
to  know  the  Truth.  As  a  moral  being,  man  has 
2*  » 


34  THE  A8PIRATI0NS  0F  NATURE. 

the  right  to  follow  the  Truth.  Any  authority 
that  interferes  with  our  exercise  of  these,  violates 
the  natural  rights  of  man,  and  insults  their  Divine 
Author. 

The  assent  of  Reason  to  truth  is  not  the 
subjection  of  Reason,  hut  its  sublimest  assertion. 
The  voluntary  following  of  Truth  is  not  a  restric¬ 
tion  of  our  Free-Will,  but  the  only  and  the  truest 
expression  of  its  liberty.  The  acknowledgment 
and  acceptance  of  Truth  constitute  man's  true 
Independence,  Dignity  and  Glory. 

Man  cannot  be  thought  of  consistently  with 
just  and  honorable  ideas  of  his  Creator,  otherwise 
than  as  good,  in  possession  of  all  his  faculties, 
whose  primal  tendencies  are  in  accordance  with 
the  great  end  of  his  being. 

There  is  no  earthly  Dignity  equal  to  that 
of  Human  Nature,  for  there  is  ^tamped  upon  it, 
in  glowing  characters,  the  perfect  resemblance  of 
xits  Divine  Author. 

Let  us  therefore  be  loyal  to  the  dictates  ol 
Reason,  knowing  that  they  will  lead  us  to  oui 
Archetype  and  Divine  Original. 

Let  the  light  of  Truth  be  our  guide.  Let 
Reason  be  our  Authority.  We  fear  not  to  follo’w 
where  they  point  the  way.  What  contradicti 
Reason  contradicts  God. 


“  gitligiflit 


tf 


go  forth  in  earnestness  and  in  hope,  with 
f  T  the  sacred  torch  of  Keason  in  our  hand,  to 
seek,  to  find,  and  to  accept  true  Eeligion,  resolved 
at  the  same  time  to  cast  aside  all  creeds  and  sys¬ 
tems  of  belief  which  exact  the  surrender  of  our 
judgment,  independence,  or  liberty. 

“If  we  find  a  religion  to  tell  us  that  the  truth 


we  see  is  not  truth,  hut  falsehood  ;  if  we  find  a 
religion  to  tell  us  that  the  good  we  love  is  not 
good,  hut  evil  ;  if  we  find  a  religion  to  tell  us  that 
our  good  deeds  are  not  virtues,  hut  vices  ;  we  in 
indignation  answer  :  ^  To  the  dogs  with  such  a 
religion.  We  ask  not  its  heaven  ;  nor  fear  its  heU, 
Such  a  religion  comes  not  down  from  heaven,  hut 
up  fiom  the  bottomless  pits  below.' 


I 


36  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

A  religion  which  gainsays  the  plain  dictates 
of  Reason^  which  is  hostile  to  our  holiest  affections, 
or  mutilates  our  nature,  is  no  religion,  hut  a  base 
Imposition.  It  is  treason  against  God  and  Human 
Nature  to  listen  to  its  horrid  and  impious  creed. 
No,  rather  die  a  heathen  or  infidel  than  submit  to 
a  religion  which  outrages  God  by  making  the 
creatures  of  his  own  likeness,  abject,  base,  ac¬ 
cursed. 

We  say,  with  the  voice  and  the  united  ener¬ 
gies  of  our  soul,  and  the  Author  of  our  being  :  ^  Let 
the  religion  perish  from  the  face  of  the  earth 
which  invades  the  sacred  boundaries  that  consti¬ 
tute  man’s  Reason,  or  which  would  diminish  the 
dignity  of  Human  Nature.’ 

Reason’s  certitude  is  anterior  to  all  other 
certitude,  hence  its  authority  is  indisputable,  and, 
in  its  own  sphere,  supreme.  The  denial  of  this  is 
the  undermining  of  the  foundations  of  all  knowl¬ 
edge  of  truth,  and  of  all  religious  belief,  and  opens 
the  way  to  the  triumph  of  Atheism.  The  first 
step  of  the  true  Religion  is  to  confirm  the  rightful 
authority  of  Reason,  to  call  forth  the  full  exercise 
of  its  powers,  to  elicit  its  free  and  undivided 
assent,  and  look  to  it  for  its  confirmation,  support, 
and  defence. 

A  religion,  therefore,  that  is  not  an  imposi- 


THE  “seeker's  confessions." 


37 


tion,  a  fraud,  cannot  move  a  single  step  inde¬ 
pendently  of  the  voluntary  assent  and  suffrage  of 
Reason.  Its  first  duty  is  to  afford  rational  and 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  doctrines  which  it  teaches. 
Let  it  look  to  this,  for  the  sake  of  its  own  honor;  for 
a  religion  which  interdicts  the  right  exercise  of 
Reason,  or  violates  its  laws,  exposes  itself,  sooner 
or  later,  to  the  just  indignation  of  all  intelligent 
thinkers. 

No  truth  or  doctrine  of  Religion  is  really  be¬ 
lieved  and  held  without  an  act  of  the  intelligence 
and  will.  These  united  constitute  man's  rational 
nature.  A  religion  unsupported  by  the  inward 
witness  and  free  assent  of  Reason  to  its  truth,  is  no 
religion,  but  a  delusion,  an  hypocrisy.  For  man, 
as  a  rational  being,  cannot,  if  he  would,  embrace 
a  religious  belief  which  is  contrary  to  his  essential 
nature — Reason. 

“  As  on  one  hand  Religion  is  bound  to  attest 
with  satisfactory  evidence  the  divine  origin  of  the 
truths  which  it  proposes  to  our  belief,  so  on  the 
other  hand,  we  are  bound  to  accept  the  truths  so 
presented.  To  believe  is  not  less  a  function  of 
Reason  than  to  know,  or  to  perform  any  other  of 
its  normal  operations.  The  refusal,  therefore,  of 
our  belief  to  truths  duly  attested,  is  a  violation  of 
our  allegiance  to  Reason,  and  if  consistently  carried 
out,  would  end  in  its  entire  overthrow. 


38  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

Eeligion  adds  no  new  faculty  to  the  soul. 
A  sure  mark  of  its  divine  origin  is,  that  w  m 
fairly  presented,  it  meets  and  welcomes  all  the 
honest  demands  of  the  intellectual  and  moral 
faculties  of  our  nature,  and  in  such  a  way  as  to 
produce  an  entire  conviction  of  its  truth.  True 
Eeligion  opens  to  our  intellectual  vision  the  great 
end  of  our  existence,  and  so  directs,  strengthens, 
and  excites  our  will  and  its  energies  that  we  reach 
it. 

It  should  not  he  forgotten  that  the  destiny 
of  the  soul  and  body  is  one  and  indivisible.  For 
man  is  soul  and  body,  inseparably  united  in  one 
person.  The  body,  tlierefore,  has  a  religious  pur¬ 
pose.  ^  Nothing  is  holier  than  that  high  form.' 
A  religion  which  is  of  divine  origin  must  he  adapt¬ 
ed,  in  its  doctrines  and  worship,  to  the  whole  of 
man's  nature. 

There  is  no  use  of  disguising  the  fact,  our 
rehgious  needs  are  the  deepest.  There  is  no  peace 
until  they  are  satisfied  and  contented.  The  at¬ 
tempt  to  stifle  them  is  vain.  If  their  cry  bo 
drowned  by  the  noise  of  the  world,  they  do  not 
cease  to  exist.  In  some  unexpected  moment  they 
will  break  forth  with  redoubled  energy.  They 
must  be  answered.  And  unless  they  be  satisfac¬ 
torily  answered,  they  will  rise  up  at  the  last  hour 


THE 


SEEKER^S  confessions/'  39 


ot  life,  and,  witli  irresistible  force,  seize  upon  tbe 
mind,  and  strike  terror  into  tbe  soul. 

It  is  a  necessity,  therefore,  to  find  a  religion 
coinciding  with  the  dictates  of  Keason,  and  com¬ 
mensurate  with  the  wants  of  our  whole  nature,  or 
else  to  wait  for  its  revelation. 

If  we  find  no  such  religion,  and  God  deigns 
not  to  reveal  it,  then  on  our  tomb  shall  be  written, 
‘  Here  lies  one  who  asked  with  sincerity  for  truth, 
and  it  was  not  given.  He  knocked  earnestly  at 
the  door  of  truth,  and  it  was  not  opened.  He 
sought  faithfully  after  truth,  and  he  found  nothing 


m 


V 


‘‘  "pELIGION  is  a  question  between  God  and 
XL  the  Soul.  No  human  authority,  therefore, 
has  any  right  to  enter  its  sacred  sphere.  The 
attempt  is  sacrilegious. 

Every  man  was  made  by  his  Creator  to  do 
his  own  thinking.  What  right  then  has  one  man, 
or  a  body  of  men,  to  dictate  to  others  their  own 
belief,  or  make  their  private  convictions,  or  senti¬ 
ments,  binding  upon  their  fellows  ? 

There  is  no  degradation  so  abject,  as  the 
submission  of  the  eternal  interests  of  the  soul  to 
the  private  authority  or  dictation  of  any  man,  or 
body  of  men,  whatever  may  be  their  titles.  Every 
right  sentiment  in  our  breast  rises  up  in  abhorrence 
against  it. 


THE  “seeker's  confessions."  41 


“  A  Church  which  is  not  of  divine  origin,  and 
which  claims  assent  to  its  teachings,  or  obedience 
to  its  precepts,  on  its  own  authority,  is  an  insult 
to  our  understandings,  and  deserves  the  ridicule  of 
all  men  who  have  the  capacity  to  put  two  ideas 
together. 

“  A  Church  that  claims  a  divine  origin,  in 
order  to  he  consistent  must  also  claim  to  he  un¬ 
erring  ;  for  the  idea  of  teaching  error  in  the  name 
of  the  Divinity,  is  blasphemous. 

,  “  A  Church,  if  it  deserve  that  title,  must 
yield  us  assistance,  and  not  we  the  Church.  The 
Church  that  needs  our  assistance,  we  despise. 
Only  the  Church  which  has  help  from  above  for 
mankind,  and  is  conscious  of  it,  is  a  divine  insti¬ 
tution: 

“A  Church  that  has  its  origin  in  heaven,  is 
an  organ  of  divine  inspiration  and  life  to  humanity. 
For  Keligion  is  not  only  a  system  of  divinely 
given  truths,  hut  also  the  organ  of  a  divine  life. 
Life,  and  its  transmission,  are  inconceivable,  inde¬ 
pendent  of  an  organism.  The  office  of  the  Church, 
therefore,  is  not  only  to  teach'  divine  truths,  hut 
also  to  enable  men  to  actualize  them. 

“  If  entrance  into  the  Church  he  not  a  step 
to  a  higher  and  holier  life,  the  source  of  a  larger 
and  more  perfect  freedom,  her  claims  do  not  merit 


42  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE, 

a  moment's  consideration.  Away  with  the  Church 
that  reveals  not  a  loftier  manhood,  and  does  not 
enable  men  to  attain  it. 

“The  object  of  the  Church’s  authority  is  not 
to  lay  restraints  on  man’s  activity,  but  to  direct  it 
aright;  not  to  make  him  a  slave,  but  to  establish 
nis  independence.  The  object  of  Church  authority 
is  to  develop  man’s  individuality,  consecrate  and 
defend  his  rights,  and  elevate  his  existence  to  the 
plane  of  his  divine  destiny. 

“  Divine  Keligion  appeals  to  man’s  holiest  in¬ 
stincts,  and  inspires  the  soul  with  a  sublime  en¬ 
thusiasm.  A  Church  without  martyrs  is  not  on  an 
equality  with  the  institution  of  the  family  or  state ; 
for  they  are  not  wanting  in  heroes.  A  Church  that 
ceases  to  produce  martyrs  is  dead. 

“  Hearts  are  aching  to  be  devoted  to  the  down¬ 
trodden  and  suffering  of  the  race.  Breasts  are 
elated  with  heroic  impulses  to  do  something  in  the 
noble  cause  of  Truth  and  God  ;  and  shall  all  these 
aspirations  and  sentiments  which  do  honor  to  our 
nature,  be  wasted,  misspent,  or  die  out  for  want 
of  sanction  and  right  direction  ?  Who  can  give 
this  sanction  ?  Who  can  give  this  direction  ? 
No  one  but  God's  Church  upon  earth.  This  is 
her  divine  mission. 

“  In  concert  with  the  voice  of  aU  those  who 


THE  seeker's  confessions."  43 


are  conscious  of  their  humanity,  we  demand  a 
visible  and  divine  authority  to  unite  and  direct 
the  aspirations  and  energies  of  individuals  and 
nations  to  great  enterprises  for  the  common  wel¬ 
fare  of  men  upon  earth,  and  for  eternity. 

If  the  Eeligion  we  are  in  search  of  does  not 
exist,  and  we  remain  in  darkness,  we  shall  he 
found  standing  upright,  looking  heavenward,  our 
Eeason  unshackled,  in  all  the  dignity  and  energy 
of  our  native  manhood. 

“  ‘  Better  roam  foi  aye,  than  rest 
Under  the  impious  shadow  of  a  roof  unblest.'  ”  * 

•DsTsm. 


/ 


VIIL 


ffrt  Starts 

“  Arise,  good  youth !  .  . 

I  know  thine  inmost  bosom,  and  I  feel 
A  very  brother’s  yearning  for  thee  steal 
Into  mine  own :  for  why  ?  Thou  openest 
The  prison-gates  that  have  so  long  oppressed 
My  weary  watchings.”  Kbats. 


1  THOUGHTS  like  the  preceding  are  largely 
.  shared  by  the  living  men  of  our  time.  Only 
genuine  Eeligion  can  answer  their  high  hut  just 
and  searching  demands.  A  false  religion  must  not 
venture  to  face  them.  Its  first  words  would  be 
the  sentence  of  its  own  condemnation.  Never 
had  true  Eeligion  so  glorious  a  field  for  its  con- 
quest,  never  had  a  false  religion  so  much  to  dread. 

Hitherto  the  conquests  of  ,  Eeligion  were 
among  pagans,  idolaters,  and  savages.  Peoples 


THE  SEARCH. 


45 


who  held  a  false  religion,  and  subject  to  alnaost 
unconquerable  prejudices  and  inveterate  super¬ 
stitions.  Here  w^e  have  men  enlightened  by 
Reason,  free  for  the  most  part  from  false  religions, 
and  open  to  the  convictions  of  Truth.  What  a 
noble  prospect  for  the  triumph  of  true  Religion  ! 
What  a  beautiful  career  for  the  champions  of  that 
Religion  which  has  its  origin  in  heaven  !  True 
Religion  has  nothing  to  dread  from  the  right  use  of 
Reason  ;  it  demands  free  inquiry,  and  courts  the 
strictest  scrutiny,  for  the  foundations  on  which 
true  Religion  stands  are  eternal. 

In  other  places,  infidelity,  skepticism,  preju¬ 
dice,  are  rife  and  stalk  over  the  land  ;  there  is  an 
evident  determination  to  reject  all  religion  in  spite 
of  the  voice  of  Reason  and  the  cries  of  our  religious 
nature.  We  have  little  of  that  among  us.  That 
little  is  of  foreign  importation. 

Our  civilization  is  young,  fresh,  and  in  the 
vigor  of  its  manhood.  New  elements  are  at  work 
in  it.  We  cannot  repeat  the  past  if  we  would. 
The  new  world  promises  a  new  civilization.  And 
in  this  unfettered  civilization,  true  Religion  will 
find  a  reception  it  has  in  vain  looked  for  elsewhere, 
and  a  development  of  unprecedented  glory.  For 
Religion  is  never  so  attractive  and  beautiful  as 
when  connected  with  intelligence  and  fine  convic¬ 
tion. 


46  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

Our  youthful  people  are  ready  to  offer  their 
hearts  to  the  embraces  of  the  Eeligioii  of  heaven . 
as  the  soil  of  our  country  presents  its  virginal 
bosom  to  our  countrymen  for  its  cultivation. 

This  moment  is  a  crisis,  the  great  crisis  of  our 
history.  For  no  people  ever  became  great  without 
religion.  A  religion,  too,  superior  to  themselves. 
A  religion  which  was  to  them  the  source  of  thei^ 
highest  and  purest  inspiration.  A  religion  which, 
in  its  main  elements  at  least,  was  of  divine  origin. 
A  religion  which  furnished  ideals  to  its  poets  and 
artists,  and  enlightened  the  minds  and  nerved  the 
arms  of  its  sages  and  heroes  to  great  enterprises. 
It  is  the  very  nature  and  essence  of  Religion  to 
raise  men,  peoples  and  nations,  above  the  common 
level  of  life,  to  break  through  its  ordinary  hounds, 
and  express  itself  in  a  thousand  ways,  in  poetry, 
painting,  music,  sculpture,  and  in  every  other  form 
of  ideal  expression.  The  splendid  monuments  of 
the  genius  and  greatness  of  by-gone  ages  are  the 
monuments  inspired  by  their  religion. 

Our  destiny  as  a  nation  hangs  on  this  moment. 
For  no  nation,  as  no  individual,  becomes  fully 
conscious  of  its  capacities,  discovers  its  divine 
destination,  until  it  is  wholly  under  the^  influence 
of  religious  insj)iration.  No  people  becomes  pro¬ 
perly  a  nation,  acts  as  one  man,  unfolds  its  highest 


THE  SEARCH. 


47 


capabilities,  displays  its  true  genius  and  utmost 
strength,  until  it  becomes  not  only  politically  and 
socially,  but  religiously,  of  one  mind  and  heart. 
Religion  ever  was  and  for  ever  must  be  the  highest 
source  of  inspiration,  and  the  most  powerful  engine 
of  progress  in  every  department  of  human  activity. 

,  Religion  strikes  the  deepest  roots  into  the  human 
heart,  inspires  with  divine  light  man's  intelligence, 
and  gives  to  his  will  a  superabundant  strength  and 
the  noblest  kind  of  heroism.  The  zenith  of  glory 
of  every  nation  is  the  period  of  the  highest  degree 
of  its  religious  culture  and  development. 

The  whole  character  of  our  future  depends  on 
the  direction  of  our  present  step.  For  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  intenseness  of  the  unity  of  a  people  in 
a  common  religious  belief,  so  will  be  their  energy. 
In  proportion  to  the  universality  of  the  principles 
of  their  religious  belief  will  be  the  grandeur  of 
their  development.  In  proportion  to  the  sub¬ 
limity,  purity,  and  truth  of  their  religious  belief, 
will  be  the  stability  and  splendor  of  their  civiliza¬ 
tion.  Religion — true,  genuine  Religion  alone, 
makes  a  people  a  nation,  powerful,  great,  glorious, 
and  like  herself,  eternal.  The  character  of  a  na¬ 
tion’s  destiny  is  taken  from  the  nature  of  its 
religion. 

Our  people  begin  to  feel  the  necessity  of  a 


48  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

religion  adequate  to  their  wants,  adapted  to  their 
genius,  and>  capable  of  guiding  them  to  their 
divine  destination.  A  religion  coextensive  with 
our  vast  extent  of  territory,  in  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  our  free  institutions,  embracing  in  one 
brotherhood  the  entire  human  race,  and  drawing 
its  authority  from  the  bosom  of  God. 

The  American  people  feel  the  need  of  such  a 
religion,  the  need  of  its  divine  sanction,  and  its 
blessings  and  guidance. 

,  Never  in  the  history  of  man  has  there  been 
presented  a  spectacle  of  greater  interest  than  the 
new  page  which  our  people  are  at  this  moment 
unfolding  before  the  world^s  expectation. 

The  promises  of  the  past,  the  hopes  of  the  pre¬ 
sent,  the  interests  of  the  future,  are  bound  up  and 
vitally  connected  with  our  efforts  and  successes. 

America  is  the  country  of  the  Future.  The 
living  God  is  above  us,  and  the  blessings  of  heaven 
are  with  us.  Let  us  then  go  forward,  trusting  that 
our  convictions  will  bring  us  to  the  realities  which 
they  foreshadow. 

i 


r 


/ 


IX 


tat|tn  IlilffSDipIs 


Pbllos(»i)h7  Is  the  endeavor  to  solve  the  formidable  problems  /rhleh 
ment  the  soul.  The  philosophical  sentiment  is  the  craving  to  pursue  these 
solutions  with  the  torch  of  Eeason  and  Science.” 


Intkod.  to  Jouffkot  ;  by  George  Kiplbt. 


HERE  shall  we  go  to  find  the  religion  of 


T  T  heaven  ?  Is  it  among  the  ancients  we  shall 
find  it  ?  Shall  we  find  in  the  writings  of  the 
philosophers  and  sages  of  Greece  and  Rome  com¬ 
plete  and  satisfactory  answers  to  the  problems 
which  torment  the  soul  ?  We  are  told  so.  But 
we  fear,  not.  By-gone  ages  listened  to  their  so¬ 
lutions,  and  found  them  to  be  insufficient  for 
Reason,  and  unsatisfactory  to  the  heart.  The 
sages  and  philosophers  of  the  ancients  were  listened 
to,  not  by  men  hostile  to  their  religions,  or  prejnr 


3 


? 

50  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

diced,  but  by  men  of  genius,  able  to  comprehend 
and  appreciate  their  teachings.  They  were  even 
their  own  cherished  disciples. 

Lucian  tells  us,  in  his  “  Dialogues  of  the  Dead 
In  the  state  of  ignorance  and  perplexity  in  which 
I  was  concerning  the  origin  of  the  world,  I  thought 
that  I  could  do  no  better  than  have  recourse  to  the 
philosophers.  Persuaded  that  they  were  the  de¬ 
positaries  of  all  truths,  and  that  they  would  dispel 
all  my  doubts,  I  addressed  myself  to  those  ol 
them  whom  I  thought  the  more  clever.  I  judged 
their  merit  by  the  gravity  of  their  exterior,  the 
paleness  of  their  countenances  and  the  length  ot 
their  beards  ;  unerring  signs,  as  I  thought,  of  the 
depth  and  the  subtlety  of  their  knowledge.  1 
placed  myself  in  their  hands  ;  and  after  having 
agreed  upon  the  price,  which  was  not  a  trifle,  I 
desired  at  first  to  be  instructed  regarding  all  that 
they  say  happens  in  heaven,  and  to  know  how  they 
would  go  to  work  to  explain  the  order  we  meet 
everywhere  in  the  universe.  What  was  my  aston¬ 
ishment,  when  all  my  learned  masters,  far  from 
dissipating  my  first  uncertitude,  plunged  me  into 
a  blindness  a  thousand  times  more  obscure  !  I 
had  my  ears  every  day  stunned  with  their  great 
words  of  principles,  ends,  atom,s,  void,  matter, 
form.  What  was  most  insufierable  for  me,  was 


HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHY. 


51 


that  each  of  them  taught  me  precisely  the  contrary 
to  what  the  other  said,  exacted  that  I  should  con¬ 
fide  in  him  alone,  and  pretended  that  his  system 
was  alone  the  right  one  and  good.’^ 

Such  was  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  Lucian  tc 
find  among  the  philosophers  of  his  time  the  an¬ 
swers  to  the  formidable  questions  which  torment 
Keason. 

The  philosopher  Justin  was  a  devout  student 
of  Plato's  writings  and  disciple  of  his  doctrines. 
Did  he  find  them  satisfactory  ?  By  no  means. 
In  regard  to  the  prince  of  philosophers,  he  says  : 

1  abandon  Plato,  not  that  his  doctrine  is  con¬ 
trary  to  the  truth,  hut  because  it  is  insufficient  and 
fragmentary.  The  same  judgment  I  pass  -on  the 
disciples  of  Zeno,  and  your  poets  and  historians." 
Origen,  Tertullian,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Augus¬ 
tine  and  other  great  minds,  pass  the  same  judg¬ 
ment  on  the  results  of  the  endeavors  of  the  sages 
and  philosophers  of  the  Grecian  states,  and  of  those 
of  the  Koman  empire.  They  sought  ardently,  they 
devoted  their  time  and  best  energies  of  their  minds, 
to  find  the  solutions  to  the  dark  enigmas  of  life  in 
the  schools  and  writings  of  the  various  philosophies, 
and  found  them  wanting. 


OHIVERSITY  Of  ILLINO.. 


52  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


“None 

Could  whisper  to  them  a  saving  spell 

That  might  the  house  of  death  illume  ;  or  raise 

Even  in  life  the  soul  to  hope  and  peace, 

Or  look  for  ultimate  union  with  the  light.”  * 

That  the  solutions  of  the  ancient  philosophers 
were  inadequate  to  the  demands  of  Keason,  is  an 
historical  fact.  A  sufficient  evidence  of  the  truth 
of  this  is  their  having  passed  into  oblivion.  Thus 
a  palpable  proof  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  ancient 
philosophical  schools  is  found  in  their  inability  to 
establish  themselves  as  permanent  institutions  of 
society.  They  could  not  stand  the  test  of  the 
strict  scrutiny  of  enlightened  Reason.  Men  may 
be  duped,  for  their  lives  are  short  ;  not  so  with 
humanity,  it  lives  for  ages.  Hence  what  is  not 
commensurate  with  all  the  wants  of  maffis  nature, 
can  never  become  universal  either  in  time  or  space. 

If  this  statement  be  not  satisfactory,  we  will 
ourselves  inquire  of  the  schools  of  ancient  philos¬ 
ophy  an  answer  to  one  of  the  great  questions  of 
Reason.  The  greatest  question  which  Reason 
can  ask  is  :  What  is  the  nature  of  God  ?  ■  Upon 
the  character  of  the  solution  given  to  this  question 
all  religious  beliefs,  all  religious  worships,  all  moral 
actions  depend.  What,  then,  is  the  voice  of  the 


*  Bailey. 


HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHY. 


53 


ancients  concerning  the  existence  and  nature  of 

God? 

Strange  to  say,  we  are  stopped  at  the  very 
threshold  of  our  inquiry  with  the  doubt,  whether 
the  ancient  philosophers  taught  consistently  the 
existence  of  the  one  true  Grod  !  Cicero,  who  was 
conversant  with  the  writings  of  the  ancient  philos¬ 
ophers  and  doctrines  of  their  schools,  has  given  a 
pretty  complete  summary  of  their  opinions  on  this 
point,  in  his  book  entitled  Concerning  the  Na¬ 
ture  of  the  Gods/’ 

Thales,”  he  tells  us,  believed  water  to  be 
the  source  of  all  things.  Anaximander’s  opinion 
was,  that  the  gods  were  born  at  different  intervals, 
and  died  after  a  great  length  of  time.  Anaximenes 
taught  that  the  air  was  God.  Anaxagoras  affirmed 
that  all  things  were  contrived  by  an  infinite  mind. 
Alemas  of  Croton  attributed  a  divinity  to  the  sun, 
the  moon,  and  the  stars.  Pythagoras  supposed 
the  Deity  to  be  one  soul,  mixing  with  and  per¬ 
vading  all  nature.  Xenophanes  would  have  all  the 
parts  of  the  universe  to  be  infinite,  and  possessed 
of  mind,  and  called  that  God.  Psemandes  formed 
an  orb  of  heat  like  a  crown,  and  this  he  named' 
God.  Protagoras  acknowledged  that  he  did  not 
know  whether  there  were,  or  were  not  gods,  or  what 
they  were.  Democritus  denies  that  there  is  anv 


54  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


thing  eternal.  Plato,  in  his  Timasus,  .denies  the 
propriety  of  asserting  a  F ather  of  the  world,  and  in 
his  books  of  Laws,  he  says,  one  ought  not  to  make 
any  inquiry  concerning  it.  He  likewise  asserts,  in 
both  these  books,  that  the  world,  the  heavens,  the 
stars,  the  earth,  the  mind,  and  men,  are  God. 
Plato's  disciples  made  God  a  round  figure,  because 
their  master  said  this  was  the  most  beautiful. 
Xenophon,  while  he  disputes  the  lawfulness  of  in*- 
quiring  into  the  form  of  the  Deity,  asserts  the  sun, 
the  moon,  and  the  mind  to  be  deities.  He  affirms 
the  existence  of  one  only  God,  and  denies  it  in  the 
same  breath  by  declaring  there  are  many.  Aris¬ 
totle  does  not  differ  from  his  master,  Plato  ;  one 
while  he  attributes  all  divinity  to  the  mind  ;  an¬ 
other  while  he  asserts  the  world  to  be  God.  Soon 
after  he  makes  some  other  essence  preside  over  the 
world  ;  then  he  asserts  the  heat  of  the  elements  is 
God.  Zenocrates,  his  fellow-pupil,  says,  that  the 
number  of  gods  is  eight,  whom  he  locates  in  the 
stars  and  planets.  Heraclides,  of  the  same  school 
of  Plato,  thinks  the  world  is  the  Deity  ;  at  other 
times  the  mind  ;  then  the  wandering  stars.  The¬ 
ophrastus  is  equally  unsteady  ;  now  it  is  mind  that 
is  God,  then  the  firmament,  then  again  the  stars 
and  celestial  signs.  Zeno  thinks  the  laws  of  na¬ 
ture  to  be  God  ;  by  and  by  he  attributes  the  same 


HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHY. 


55 


power  to  the  stars,  the  years,  the  months  and 

seasons.  Aristo,  Zeno's  disciple,  is  altogether  in 

doubt  whether  the  Deity  is  an  animated  being  or 

not.  Cleanthes,  another  disciple  of  the  same 

master,  one  while  says  the  world  is  God  ;  at  other 

times .  he  bestows  divinity  on  the  mind  and  the 

spirit  of  universal  nature  ;  then  he  asserts  it  is 

neither  ;  again,  the  stars  are  the  divinity  ;  and 

lastly,  nothing  is  more  divine  than  Keason." 

\ 

Arrived  at  this  stage  of  his  investigations, 
seized  as  it  were  with  bewilderment,  amidst  these 
absurd  and  conflicting  opinions,  Cicero  gives  ex¬ 
pression  to  the  voice  of  the  common  sentiment  of 
mankind,  when  he  exclaims,  “  Alas,  that  this  God 
whom  we  know  by  our  Reason,  and  of  whom  each 
one  bears  ’  traces  in  his  breast,  by  the  labors  of 
these  men  is  wholly  obliterated  from  the  mind  ! " 

And  what  more  striking  proof  can  be  asked, 
than  the  fact  that  millions  of  individuals  of  both 
sexes,  of  every  age  and  rank,  were  put  to  the  most 
cruel  tortures  and  death  by  the  edicts  of  heathen 
Emperors,  many  of  whom  professed  philosophy, 
and  for  what  ?  Why,  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  they  would  not  pay  divine  honors  to  men  and 
demons,  to  stocks  and  stones,  and  even  creeping 
things  !  For  what  other  crime  was  Socrates  put 
to  death,  than  venturing  to  insinuate  in  the  mind 
of  men  the  unity  of  God  ? 


56  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


As  regards  the  opinions  of  ancient  philosophers 
concerning  the  soul,  they  were  no  less  absurd  and 
contradictory  than  those  given  above  on  the 
Nature  of  the  Gods.^’  The  same  Cicero  concludes 
a  resum4  of  their  opinions  in  his  Tusculan  Ques¬ 
tions  as  follows  :  “  In  this  matter  the  philosophers 
leave  us  in  complete  incertitude  ;  and  i  t  is  a  great 
question  which  of  them  is  true.^' 

Philosophy  by  her  Platos,  Aristotles,  Zenos, 
was  in  the  greatest  incertitude,  and  taught  the 
most  absurd  inconsistencies  on  these  great  prob¬ 
lems  which  torment  our  intelligence.  Nor  were 
the  ancient  philosophers  more  successful  in  regard 
to  the  right  rules  of  moral  action.  Marcus  Yarro 
counts  up  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  different  opinions,  which  might  be  easily 
gathered  from  the  doctrines  of  the  philosophers 
concerning  the  relations  of  man  with  God. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  disparage,  or  to  look  down 
with  contempt  on  the  sincere  efforts  and  earnest 
search  for  truth,  displayed  by  several  of  the  ancient 
sages  and  philosophers.  No  one  who  has  had  it 

for  his  task  to  find  the  truth  in  the  midst  of  error. 

/ 

single  and  unaided,  will  be  disposed  to  despise  the 
generous  efforts  of  others  who  had  to  fight  the 
same  battle,  under  less  favorable  circumstances. 
But  surely  no  one  will  at  this  day  impose  upon 


/ 


HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHY. 


57 


men  the  task  of  finding  the  solutions  of  the  dark 
enigmas  of  life,  or  of  fixing  the  true  religion  and 
determining  the  worship  agreeahlo  to  the  Deity, 
from  the  writings,  or  the  schools,  of  philosophers 
of  the  ancient  world,  of  whom 

“  The  best 

Were  erring  guides  ;  the  worst  were  all  bu*  all. 

The  world  was  one  enigma ;  life  appeared 

A  bridge  of  groans  across  a  stream  of  ‘  * 


.1 


X. 

®trman  Hilrtsufjlij. 


“  Swoet  milk  philosophy  1  ” 

Shakespeabb. 

IF  the  ancient  philosophers  were  unable  to  give 
satisfactory  answers  to  the  demands  of  Keason, 
it  may  have  been  because  this  task  was  left  to 
some  after  age  and  people  to  accomplish.  What 
age  can  boast  of  greater  enlightenment  than  the 
Nineteenth  Century  ?  Which  of  the  nations  on 
the  earth  is  superior  in  philosophical  genius  to  the 
people  of  Germany  ?  Every  age  has  its  work, 
every  people  its  mission  ;  where  can  we  look  with 
brighter  hopes  for  success  to  our  search,  than 
among  these  bold  adventurers  on  the  broad  ocean 
of  thought  ? 

Kind  reader,  we  beg,  be  not  startled  at  the 


GERMAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


59 


idea  of  making  a  philosophical  tour  through  the 
dry,  dreary,  barbarous  field  of  speculation  of  the 
profound  thinkers  of  Germany.  Be  assured  that 
it  is  far  from  our  intention  to  inflict  a  long  dis¬ 
sertation  on  their  discoveries  and  relative  merits. 
Patience  !  we  shall  be  brief,  unbiased,  and  intel¬ 
ligible. 

Emmanuel  Kant  is  entitled,  if  any  one  is,  to  the 
name  of  the  Father  of  the  philosophy  of  modern' 
Germany. 

What  is  the  true  nature  of  Keason,  and  how 
is  Keason  to  be  placed  upon  that  road  by  which 
we  can  march  on  a  scientific  basis  in  all  philo¬ 
sophical  speculations  and  researches  after  know¬ 
ledge  ?  This  was  the  problem  that  Emmanuel 
Kant  endeavored  to  solve  in  his  celebrated  work 
entitled  “  Critic  of  Pure  Keason.^’ 

We  shall  not  fatigue  our  readers  with  follow¬ 
ing  the  philosopher  of  Konigsherg  through  his  in 
many  respects  inasterly  examination  of  the  powers 
of  Keason.  The  results  of  his  labors  and  philo¬ 
sophical  genius  will  suffice  us. 

Accordingly  Kant  tells  us  : — All  the  powers 
of  Keason  in  pure  philosophy  are,  in  fact,  directed 
to  the  three  great  problems  :  The  existence  of 
God  :  The  Immortality  of  the  Soul  :  The  Free¬ 
dom  of  the  Will/'  Now,  what  is  the  value  of 


60  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

Reason  in  regard  to  the  solution  of  these  three 
great  questions  which  never  cease  to  occupy  its 
powers  and  torment  it  unless  rightly  answered  ? 

What  can  I  know  ?  ’’  asks  boldly  this  great 
German  thinker,  at  the  close  of  his  long,  laborious, 
and  severe  critic  of  Reason's  powers.  The  answer 
to  this  question,  gives  the  direction  to  all  the 
philosophical  investigations  of  the  then  future 
German  mind.  Little  did  Kant  think  that  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  thousands,  and  even  mil¬ 
lions,  depended  on  the  solution  he  should  give  to 
this  question  :  What  can  I  know  ?  "  Is 

there  a  God  ?  ”  Am  I  immortal  ?  "  “  Are  we 

free  ?  "  Every  thing  hangs  upon  the  character 
of  the  answers  given  to  these  great  questions  ; 
society,  the  state,  man's  past,  present,  and  future. 
Behold  the  answer  of  the  Father  of  modern  Ger¬ 
man  transcendental  philosophy  to  the  gravest, 
most  important,  and  vital  qpiestion  that  ever  was 
asked  by  man  :  What  can  I  know  ?  "  From 

the  great  ends  to  which  all  these  efforts  of  pure 
Reason  were  in  fact  directed,  such  is  his  language  : 

We  remain  just  as  far  removed  as  if  we  had 
consulted  our  ease,  and  declined  the  task  at  the 
outset."  * 

According  then  to  the  Master  Genius  of  German 


•  Critic  of  Reason,  p.  483 — Bolin's  edition 


GERMAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


61 


thought,  Philosophy  is  not  able  to  give  to  man 
satisfactory  solutions  to  the  great  questions  which 
agitate  Reason.  These  great  and  momentous 
questions,  these  questions  of  life  and  death  to  man, 
are  mere  problems,  for  and  against  which  the 
arguments  are  of  equal'  force  and  value  ;  hence 
the  Existence  of  God,  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul, 
the  Freedom  of  the  Will,  stand  on  the  basis  of 
being  mere  plausible  hypotheses.  In  other  words, 
KanPs  answer  to  the  question,  “  What  can  I 
know  ?  reduced  to  simple  words,  is  :  I  can  know 
nothing  !  Is  not  this  sheer  skepticism  ?  Thus 
Reason  is  a  mocking  gift,  and  man  is  doomed  to 
have  his  life's  energies  tormented  and  devoured  by 
uncertainty  and  doubt,  like  the  vultures  which 
devoured  the  vitals  of  the  rock-bound  Prometheus. 

True  to  his  philosophical  character,  Kant  died 
a  consistent  philosopher.  Being  asked  a  few  days 
before  his  death  by  his  friend  Hasse,  what  he 
hoped  for  in  the  future  life  ?  "  he  replied  :  “  On 
that  point  I  have  no  fixed  opinions."  At  another 
time  he  said,  I  have  no  notion  of  a  future  state." 

Fichte,  the  distinguished  disciple  of  Kant, 
pushed  the  doctrines  of  his  master  to  their  logical 
consequences.  What  Kant  pronounced  in  doubt, 
and  with  hesitating  lips,  Fichte  affirms  with  assu¬ 
rance  and  with  the  tone  of  sincerity.  According 


62  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

to  Kant,  we  cannot  affirm  from  the  image  within 
to  what  is  without  ;  so,  according  to  Fichte,  as  it 
is  only  the  image  within  we  see,  we  cannot  logically 
conclude  that  any  thing  without  exists  at  all. 
Philosophy  defined  in  the  spirit  of  Fichte  would 
be  :  The  dialogue  of  a  man  with  his  own  shadow. 
And  God  is  nothing  else  than  man's  intuition  of 
his  own  nature  considered  as  an  independent  ex¬ 
istence.  In  keeping  with  his  transcendental 
philosophy,  Ficht6,  at  the  close  of  one  of  his 
celebrated  lectures  at  Berlin,  announced  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  the  subsequent  evening  as  follows  :  To¬ 

morrow  evening,  gentlemen,  I  wiU  construct  God." 

Fichte,  for  his  philosophical  ability,  was  called 
to  fill  the  chair  of  Philosophy  at  the  celebrated 
University  of  Jena  ;  hut  sacrificed  his  position  by 
defending  the  proposition  that  God  is  to  he 
thought  as  an  order  of  events,  to  think  of  God  as 
a  substance,  or  with  a  personality,  is  to  fall  into 
contradictions  and  absurdities."  Is  not  this  Athe¬ 
ism? 

It  is  said  that  Fichte  before  his  death  adopted 
opinions  more  consonant  with  the  universal  con¬ 
victions  of  man's  religious  nature.  For  his  soul's 
sake  it  would  be  an  unpleasant  refiection  to  think 
otherwise. 

ScheUing  is  the  next  great  representative  of 


GERMAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


63 


Ot-urman  philosophy.  To  give  an  adequate  idea 
of  Schelling's  system  or  systems,  would  be  an  end¬ 
less  task.  For  so  many  have  been  the  changes  of 
Schelling  that  it  has  been  said,  that  the  best  refu¬ 
tation  of  his  philosophy  would  be  an  exact  cata¬ 
logue  of  his  works.  To  escape,  however,  such  a 
humiliation  while  living,  he  declared  it  to  be  his 
intention  to  give  his  last  word  on  philosophy  only 
at  the  end  of  his  life.  To  increase  our  Tantalus¬ 
like  agony,  this  philosopher  lives  to  a  ripe  old  age, 
and  then  leaves  us  hopelessly  in  the  dark. 

George  Hegel  is  the  next  great  German 
philosophical  thinker.  The  fundamental  formula 
of  philosophy,  according  to  this  philosopher,  is 
the  Identity  of  contradiction — “  Seyn  und  Nicht 
Seyn,^^  being  and  not  being,  are  one  and  precisely 
the  same  thing.  His  first  axiom  of  philosophy  is  : 
Das  Seyn  ist  Das  Nichts.  The  first  step  towards 
becoming  a  philosopher,  according  to  George 
Hegel,  is  to  throw  overboard  common  sense,  and 
the  disordering  of  one’s  reason. 

“  God,”  according  to  this  profound  German 
thinker,  arrives  in  man  to  the  most  perfect  con¬ 
sciousness  of  his  being  ;  for  the  Absolute  consists 
in  the  identity  of  being  and  knowledge  ;  to  think, 
therefore,  is  to  be  God.  Hence,  without  man  and 


64  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

the  world,  God  was  not  complete,  nor  was  he  yet 
God.'^  ^  Is  not  this  pantheism  ? 

Let  us  listen  to  the  confession  of  one  of  his 
celebrated  disciples :  I  accepted,^^  says  Heine 
the  poet,  without  examination,  the  synthesis  of 
Hegelian  philosophy,  the  logical  consequences  of 
which  tickled  my  vanity.  I  was  young  and  proud 
— my  pride  was  not  moderately  flattered  with  the 
idea  that  I  was  a  god.  I  never  would  believe  that 
God  had  become  man  ;  I  taxed  with  superstition 
this  sublime  dogma,  and  later  I  believed  Hegel  at 
his  word  when  I  heard  him  affirm  that  man  was 
God.^' 

Speaking  of  his  labors  to  bring  out  Hegefls 
philosophy,  in  a  French  translation  he  says :  “I 
was  occupied  with  this  task  during  two  years,  and 
I  was  successful,  by  force  of  painful  efforts,  to 
master  this  rebel  matter  and  to  give  a  form  as 
clear  as  possible  to  the  most  cloudy  thoughts  of 
this  philosopher  ;  but  when  my  work  was  ended, 
I  was  seized  at  its  aspect  with  a  shivering,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  the  MSS.  looked  on  me  with 
a  strange,  mocking,  contemptuous  eye.  The 
Translator  and  his  work  accorded  no  longer  to¬ 
gether.  It  was  at  this  period  that  an  aversion  for 
atheism  seized  hold  of  my  soul  ;  and  as  I  was 


*  Religions  Phllosophie. 


GERMAN  PHILOSOPHY.  65 

forced  to  avow  that  my  impiety  had  fouDd  its 
source  and  its  principal  support  in  the  philosophy 
of  Hegel,  it  began  to  weigh  on  me  ...  I  saw  that 
the  publication  of  such  a  work  could  not  he  salu* 
tary  either  to  the  public  or  the  Translator  ;  and 
one  day  when  the  fire  sparkled  gaily  on  my  hearth, 
I  threw  my  MSS.  into  the  flames,  as  formerly  my 
friend  Kitzler  did  on  a  like  occasion.  Then  when 
these  leaves,  the  fruit  of  so  much  labor,  disap¬ 
peared  in  the  flames,  I  heard  in  the  chimney  a 
hissing  sound  like  the  laugh  of  a  fiend.  Oh  ! 
could  I  but  annihilate  in  the  same  manner  all 
that  I  have  ever  published  on  German  philoso¬ 
phy  !  * 

Such  were  the  teachings,  logical  conclusions, 
and  practical  effects  of  the  doctrines  of  the  too 
famous  German  thinker,  George  Hegel,  whose 
philosophy  one  might  define  :  a  metaphysical 
discourse  on  the  text,  You  shall  be  as  Gods,'^ 
which  was  promulgated  by  a  very  suspicious  per¬ 
sonage  some  six  thousand  years  ago. 

Hegel  had  other  disciples  : — Strauss,  Bruno- 
Bauer,  Feuerbach.  These  were  the  more  ardent  in 
following  the  footsteps  of  their  master.  “  The 
most  consequent  of  the  terrible  children  of  our 
modern  philosophy, says  the  same  Heine,  the 


♦  L«8  aveux  d’un  poet  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes.  1854. 


66  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

modern  Coryjjheus,  is  one  who  bears  really  the 
name  of  lake  of  lire  (Feuerbach),  he  proclaims,  in 
concert  with  his  friends,  the  most  radical  atheism 
as  the  last  word  of  our  metaphysics.  With  a 
bacchanalian  frenzy,  these  impious  zealots  tear 
the  blue  veil  from  the  heavens  of  Germany,  and 
cry  out :  Look,  all  the  divinities  have  fled,  and 
there  resides  on  high  only  an  old  woman  with  iron 
hands  and  a  desolated  heart, — Necessity  !  * 

Let  us  listen  for  a  moment  to  some  of  the 
proclamations  of  this  philosopher  of  young  Ger¬ 
many. 

There  is  no  other  essence/'  so  savs  Lewis 

J  V 

Feuerbach,  which  man  can  think  of,  dream  of, 
imagine,  feel,  believe  in,  wish  for,  love  and  adore 
as  the  Absolute,  than  the  essence  of  human  na¬ 
ture  itself"  f  Man  is  his  own  God."  J  This 
is  the  great  practical  principle — this  is  the  axis 
on  which  revolves  the  history  of  the  world."  § 
The  revelation  of  God  is  nothing  else  than  the 
revelation,  the  self-unfolding,  of  human  nature.  |j 
Keligion  is  a  dream,  in  which  our  own  concep¬ 
tions  and  emotions  appear  to  us  as  separate  exist¬ 
ences,  beings  out  of  ourselves."  ^ 

Such  are  the  logical  consequences  of  the  prin- 

*  Les  aveux  d’un  poet.  Eevue  des  Deux  Mondes.  1854 
t  Essence  of  Christianity.  J  Ibid.  Homo  homini  deus  eeL 

S  Ibid.  I  Ibid.  1  Ibid. 


GERMAN  PHILOSOPHY. 


67 


ciples  of  the  great  pbuosopliical  movement  of 
Germany.  And  what  is  worthy  of  remark,  and 
curious  too,  is  that  each  of  these  philosophers  in 
his  enthusiasm  professed  to  nave  discovered  the 
philosophy  of  the  Absolute,  and  therefore  promised 
for  himself  and  his  writings  an  undying  fame. 
Some  went  so  far  as  to  proclaim  themselves  not 
only  the  Apostles  of  truth,  but  its  Messiah,  the 
Eternal.  Thus  Kant,  so  the  Kantians  in  all 
sincerity  believed,  had  settled  all  the  questions 
of  Reason  on  a  firm  basis,  and  his  philosophy  was 
to  have  a  reign  without  end.  Then  Fichte  rose 
and  gave  his  master’s  philosophy  such  a  hearty 
Teutonic  blow  that  it  failed  to  keep  upright  and 
fell.  Reinhold  planked  himself  between  the  two. 
Sc  helling  came  and  changed  and  changed,  and, 
changing,  left  the  scene.  Hegel  came,  and  God 
only  knows  the  divisions  of  his  disciples  into  right 
and  left,  extreme  right  and  extreme  left,  forwards 
and  backwards,  upwards  and  downwards,  until 
old  chaos  came  again,  and  by  right  reigns  supreme 
over  the  brood  of  deep  thinkers  of  the  German 
philosophical  world. 


**  Ph-losophy  is  the  last  enfranchisement  of  Keason ;  the  intelligence  and 
explication  of  all  things ;  the  source  of  a  superior  and  an  unalterable  peace.” 

ViOTOB  Cousin. 


Leaving  the  mystic  Germans  brooding  over 
their  profound  speculations  and  lifeless  ab¬ 
stractions,  in  their  primeval  forests,  we  will  turn 
our  attention  to  the  practical  and  vivacious  think¬ 
ers  of  sunny  France. 

The  first  who  strikes  our  attention  among 
modern  French  thinkers,  is  M.  Victor  Cousin,  with 
his  school  of  Eclectics.  What  promises  are  held 
out  here  in  the  shape  of  philosophy  ?  Victor 
Cousin  does  not  ’hesitate  to  picture  for  us  the 
brightest  and  most  cheering  prospects.  Like  his 
German  predecessors  and  cotemporaries,  he  sets 
out  with  the  ambition  to  construct  a  philosophy 


FRENCH  PHILOSOPHY. 


69 


superior  to  all  systems — philosophy  in  itself — and 
consequently  everlasting.” 

In  addressing  the  young  men  of  France,  he 
proclaims  that  philosophy  is  the  last  victory  o'^ 
thought  over  every  strange  form  and  element ;  it 
is  the  highest  degree  of  liberty  of  intelligence  ; — 
it  is  the  last  enfranchisement  and  the  last  pro¬ 
gress  of  thought.  ‘  It  is  the  light  of  all  lights,  the 
authority  of  authorities.  It  is  true  that,  in  place 
of  forming  a  party  in  the  human  race,  it  elim 
inates  all  parties.  Young  men,  arrived  at  the 
close  of  your  previous  studies,  you  will  find  in 
philosophy,  with  the  intelligence  and  explication 
of  all  things,  a  superior  and  unalterable  peace.”  f 
We  breathe  freer,  our  hopes  revive,  and  we  are 
prompted  to  exclaim  :  At  length  we  have  found 
the  man  who  will  give  us  satisfactory  explanations 
of  the  formidable  problems  of  Season,  and  the  in¬ 
telligence  of  the  dark  enigmas  of  life.  Let  us 
listen  with  profound  respect  and  our  whole  atten¬ 
tion,  as  is  due  to  so  great  a  philosopher.  To  begin 
with  the  beginning.  What  does  he  say  of  God  ? 

“  My  God,”  he  replies,  “  is  the  God  of  con¬ 
sciousness,  who  is  at  the  same  time  God — Nature 
— Humanity.  .  .  If  God  be  not  all.  He  is  noth- 

*  Preface  to  Tenneman’s  Hist  of  Philos, 
t  Introd.  Hist  de  la  Philos. 


70  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

:ng.  .  .  It  is  in  the  human  consciousness  that 
God  appears  to  himself/'  .  .  Creation  is  not  pos¬ 
sible  ;  it  is  necessary.  .  .  God  cannot  but  create  ; 
and  in  creating  the  universe  he  does  not  draw  it 
from  nothingness,  hut  from  Himself" 

We  are  greatly  mistaken  if  there  he  any  real 
difference  between  the  God  of  Spinoza,  George 
Hegel,  and  Schelling,  and  the  God  of  M.  Victor 
Cousin.  And  such  a  being  is  not  the  God  of 
the  human  race.  He  is  not  a  God  distinct  from 
the  world.  Now  the  negation  of  a  God  distinct 
from  the  world  has  a  well-known  name  in  every 
language,  as  well  as  philosophy."  The  only  differ¬ 
ence  we  are  able  to  discover  between  the  God  of 
the  former  from  the  latter  is,  that  one  clothes  him 
with  a  German  and  the  other  with  a  French  cos¬ 
tume. 

As  regards  the  soul,  this  French  philosophei 
has  the  hardihood  to  tell  us  “  that  its  immortality 
is  a  sublime  probability,  which  perhaps  eludes  the 
rigor  of  a  demonstration." 

In  view  of  these  facts,  we  are  surprised  that 
one  of  his  able  American  translators  could  hold  the 
following  language  in  his  Introductory  to  Cousin’s 
Philosophical  Miscellanies  :  “  Every  primitive  be¬ 
lief  of  humanity  is  invested,  in  his  eyes,  with  a 


*  Hitt  PhilM, 


FRENCH  PHILOSOPHY. 


71 


character  of  peculiar,  I  may  say,  indeed,  of  awfui 
sanctity/*  .  .  “  And  that  the  philosophy  of  Cou¬ 

sin  exhibits  to  the  speculative  inquirer,  in  the 
rigorous  forms  of  science,  the  reality  of  our  instinc¬ 
tive  faith  in  God,  in  Virtue,  in  the  Human  Soul, 
in  the  Beauty  of  Holiness,  and  in  the  Immortality 
of  Man.  Such  a  philosophy,**  he  contends,  1 
cannot  hut  believe  will  ultimately  find  a  cherished 
abode  in  the  youthful  affections  of  this  nation,  in 
whose  history,  from  the  beginning,  the  love  of 
freedom,  the  love  of  philosophical  inquiry,  and 
the  love  of  Keligion,  have  been  combined  in  a 
thrice  holy  bond.** 

Happily  for  us  is  it,  that  this  belief  has  not 
been  fulfilled  ;  for,  take  from  M.  Victor  Cousin  his 
brilliant  style  and  F rench  enthusiasm,  and  you  take 
away  all  distinguishes  his  philosophy  from  the 
German  Pantheism.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  when  he  delights  in  acknowledging  that  he 
borrowed  much  from  Hegel  and  Schelling,  and 
felt  honored  publicly  to  call  them  his  masters  and 
friends,  and  the  leaders  of  the  philosophy  of  the 
age. 

Theodore  Jouffroy,  Cousin*s  most  distinguish¬ 
ed  disciple,  less  cautious  than  his  master,  avows 
frankly  that  the  question  of  the  SouFs  Immortal- 


♦  Frag,  Philos. 


72  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

ity  “is  premature,  .  .  .  and  until  now  nothing 
completely  demonstrative  has  been  produced  in  its 
favor.  .  .  and  that  the  opinion  which  attributes 
the  facts  of  consciousness  to  a  j)rinciple  distinct 
from  all  corporeal  organs,  may  he  considered  till 
now  as  an  hypothesis/^  * 

But  Jouffroy  will  let  us  farther  into  the  secrets 
of  the  teaching,  and  the  destructive  effects,  of  the 
school  of  Eclectics  and  their  master.  Let  us 
listen  to  some  of  the  avowals  made  hut  shortly 
before  his  death,  and  mutilated  by  M.  Victoi 
Cousin  before  being  given  to  the  public.  In  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  time  of  his  youth  he  says  :  “  As  to  the 
questions  which  alone  merit  the  attention  of  man 
the  religion  of  my  fathers  gave  me  the  answers 
I  believed,  and,  thanks  to  this  belief,  the  life  of 
the  present  was  clear,  and  beyond  it  I  saw  the 
future  which  was  to  follow  it,  unroll  itself  without 
a  cloud.  Tranquil  about  the  path  which  I  had  to 
follow  in  this  world  ;  tranquil  as  regards  the  end 
to  which  it  must  lead  me  in  the  other,  compre¬ 
hending  life  in  both  its  phases,  and  death  that 
unites  them  ;  comprehending  myself ;  knowing 
the  designs  of  God  in  my  regard,  and  loving  him 
for  the  goodness  of  his  designs,  I  was  happy  with 
that  happiness  which  flows  from  a  lively  and  cer- 


•  Esquisse  de  Philos.  Morale. 


FRENCH  PHILOSOPHY. 


73 


tain  faith,  and  a  doctrine  which  resolves  all  the 
grand  questions  which  can  interest  man.’' 

No  longer  possessing  the  light  of  this  faith, 
unable  to  suffer  the  incertitude  which  preyed  upon 
his  mind  as  regards  the  enigmas  of  man's  destiny, 
I  resolved,”  he  says,  to  consecrate  all  the  time 
wliich  might  he  necessary,  and  my  whole  life  if  it 
were  required,  to  their  research.  It  was  in  this 
way  that  I  found  myself  led  to  philosophy,  which, 
it  seemed  to  me,  could  he  nothing  else  than  this 
research  itself.” 

Jouffroy  now  enters  TEcole  Normale,  at  the 
head  of  which  was  M.  Victor  Cousin,  teaching  his 
philosophy  with  great  eclat  to  the  youth  of  F ranee. 

What  did  I  find  there  ?  ”  asks  J oufiProy.  All 

the  disputes  which  had  animated  the  slumbering 
echoes  of  the  Faculty,  and  which  agitated  the 
heads  of  my  companions  in  study,  had  for  their 
object,  their  only  object,  .  .  .  the  question  of  the 
origin  of  ideas.  This  was  all,  .  .  .  and  in  the 
helplessness  in  which  I  then  was,  I  could  not 
recover  my  astonishment  that  they  should  he  oc¬ 
cupied  with  the  origin  of  ideas  with  so  great  an 
ardor,  that  it  could  he  said  that  in  this  all  phi¬ 
losophy  was  included,  leaving  aside  man,  God, 
the  world,  the  relations  which  unite  them,  the 
enigmas  of  the  past  and  the  mysteries  of  the  future, 
4 


74  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OP  NATURE. 

and  so  many  gigantic  problems  concerning  which 
it  was  not  dissimulated  that  they  were  skepticaL 
All  philosophy  was  in  a  pit  where  there  was 
no  air,  and  where  my  soul,  recently  exiled  from 
Christianity,  was  smothered.’^ 

Behold  the  realization  of  that  promise  to  the 
young  men  of  France,  of  finding  in  philosophy, 
with  the  intelligence  and  explication  of  all  things, 
a  superior  and  an  unalterable  peace  ! 

But  the  history  of  modern  philosophy  in 
France  runs  parallel  with  that  of  its  parent  source 
in  Germany.  Philosophy  in  Germany  did  not 
stop  with  Kant,  Fichte,  Hegel  ;  it  found  its  last 
expression  in  Strauss,  Bauer,  Feuerbach  ;  in 
France  Leroux,  Sand,  and  Proudhon,  are  its  latest 
offspring. 

Leroux  partakes  of  the  positiveness  of  the 
later  school  of  Germans,  and  declares,  No,  the 
soul  is  not  distinct  from  the  body.  The  earth 
is  not  outside  of  Heaven  .  .  .  Seize  heaven  in  the 
present  life.’'  Such  are  the  doctrines  of  the  great 
Humanitarian,  Pierre  Leroux. 

But  the  French  Feuerbach,  the  corypheus  ot 
the  latest  school  of  philosophy  in  France,  is 
Proudhon.  One  word  from  this  logician  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  and  we  end,  for  with  him  all  ends. 

“  I  tell  you,”  says  this  demoniac  man, 


FRENCH  PHILOSOPHY. 


75 


that  the  first  duty  of  an  intelligent  and  free  man 
is  to  chase  incessantly  from  the  mind  and  con¬ 
science  the  idea  of  God.  Because  God,  if  He  does 
exist,  is  essentially  hostile  to  our  nature,  and  we 
elevate  ourselves  only  at  the  expense  of  His 
authority.  We  arrive  at  science  in  spite  of  Him  ; 
at  society  in  spite  of  Him  ;  each  step  we  take  is  a 
victory  in  which  we  crush  the  Divinity.  With 
time  I  will  idealize  my  being,  and  I  will  become 
the  chief  of  creation,  the  equal  of  God.”  Our  pen 
stops,  our  hand  refuses  to  transcribe  any  further, 
and  we  are  seized  with  a  shudder  at  the  outrageous 
blasphemies  of  this  terrible  Atheist. 

What  now  are  the  results  of  Modern  Philoso¬ 
phy  charged  to  speak  to  man  of  God, — of  the 
soul, — of  the  formidable  problems  of  his  existence  ? 
God  is  banished ;  "the  soul  is  a  fiction ;  and 
Heaven  a  mockery.  It  has  substituted  in  place 
of  man's  original  and  everlasting  convictions,  a 
sickly  skepticism  ;  in  place  of  the  bright  inspira¬ 
tions  of  divine  truths,  an  inscrutable  chaos ;  in 
place  of  his  high  hopes,  blank  despair  ! 


XII. 


Iisjiitanflm  of  gioason. 


“There  are 

Powers  deeper  still  beyond — I  come  in  quest 
.  Of  such,  to  answer  what  1  seek.” 

Bteon. 

IF  such  be  the  legitimate  results  of  both  ancient 
and  modern  philosophy,  what,  in  this  case,  is 
the  value  of  Reason  ?  Who  will  pretend  to  say 
that  Socrates,  Plato,  Kant,  Hegel,  Cousin, 
Jouffroy,  did  not  possess  Reason,  Reason  informed 
and  developed  by  profound  and  severe  studies, 
cultivated  and  refined  by  long  and  continued  ex¬ 
ercise  ;  and  if  they  failed  to  give  satisfactory 
solutions  to  the  dark  enigmas  of  life,  is  not  this 
to  declare  that  the  highest  efforts  of  Reason  are 
vain,  and  consequently  Reason  is  but  a  delusive 
and  mocking  gift  ?  After  a  condemnation  of  this 


ASPIRATIONS  OF  REASON. 


77 


kind,  to  talk  of  man’s  sovereign  and  godlike  Kea- 
son,  is  to  prate  nonsense,  insincerity,  and  sham. 

Patience,  indulgent  reader,  and  be  careful  not 
to  fall  into  the  mistake  which  is  not  seldom  made, 
of  taking  the  speculations  of  a  certain  class  of  men 
called  philosophers,  for  a  fair,  adequate,  and  faith¬ 
ful  expression  of  the  capabilities  and  powers  of 
Reason. 

What  Reason  is  capable  of  doing,  and  what 
this  class  of  men  have  done,  are  two  distinct  and 
separate  things,  and  should  not,  therefore,  he  con¬ 
founded.  The  ability  of  Reason  is  one  thing,  and 
the  exercise  of  Reason  by  a  class  of  men  who  were 
not  altogether  free  from  prejudice,  passion,  super¬ 
stition,  and,  in  some  instances,  of  most  shocking 
vices,  is  quite  another  thing.  Reason  is  by  no 
means  implicated  in  the  condemnation  of  the  abuse 
^  made  of  her  powers,  or  of  the  unfaithfulness 
to  her  plainest  dictates.  Failing  to  make  this 
distinction,  an  injustice  has  not  seldom  been  done 
to  Reason,  her  rights  even  sacrificed,  and  the 
cause  of  truth  made  to  suffer  deplorable  injury. 

No  hostile  feelings  actuate  us  towards  philoso¬ 
phy,  for,  after  Theology,  philosophy  is  the  noblest 
occupation  of  maffs  intellectual  powers.  But  our 
interest  and  affection  for  the  cause  of  truth  is 
above  all  others,  and  we  cannot  but  acknowledge 


78  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

that  one  of  the  most  humiliating  pages  of  man’s 
intellectual  history  is  that  of  philosophy.  When 
we  read  this  page,  it  would  seem  that  this  clasy 
of  men,  instead  of  bending  all  their  etforts  to 
strengthen  and  support  the  primary  and  universal 
convictions  of  mankind,  have  somehow  done  theii 
utmost  to  unsettle  and  overthrow  their  everlasting 
foundations.  And  do  not,  candid  reader,  the  fore¬ 
going  pages  on  philosophy  fully  confirm  the  truth 
of  this  remark  ? 

How  many  of  the  ancient  and  modern  philoso¬ 
phers  employed  Reason  as  a  cloak  to  conceal  their 
vanity,  pride,  or  ambition  ?  How  many,  undei 
the  pretext  of  friendship  for  Reason,  exaggerated 
her  powers,  and  became  the  demagogues  of  Reason  ? 
How  many  made  Reason  their  slave,  so  that  to 
use  the  language  of  Cicero,  there  is  no  absurdity, 
however  great,  in  defence  of  which  you  will  not 
find  some  one  of  the  philosophers  who  has  pros¬ 
tituted  the  powers  of  Reason.”  Religion  and 
morality  they  never  cared  for  to  any  part  of  the 
extent  of  their  religious  and  moral  natural  abilities. 
These  have  been  uniformly  sacrificed  in  a  vain 
endeavor  to  appease  the  disordered  cravings  that 
right  Reason  and  Free-Will,  assisted  as  they 
always  are,  should  ha^^^e  struggled  to  restrain  and 
overcome.”  * 


*  Dr.  Manahan. 


ASPIRATIONS  OF  REASON. 


79 


Ijet  it  be  clearly  understood,  then,  that  what 
t\^e  blame  and  deprecate  in  tbe  class  of  men  called 
philosophers,  is  not  Reason,  but  the  want  of  it  ; 
not  the  exercise  of  Reason,  but  the  neglect  of  its 
exercise  ;  not  the  use  of  Reason,  hut  its  wilful 
abuse,  They  detained  the  truth  of  God  in  in¬ 
justice  :  ’’ — to  use  the  strong  language  of  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  Because  they  knew  God, 
but  did  not  glorify  Him  as  God,  or  give  thanks  ; 
but  became  vain  in  their  thoughts,  their  foolish 
hearts  were  darkened.  For  professing  themselves 
to  be  wise  they  became  fools.  And  they  changed 
the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God,  into  the  like¬ 
ness  of  the  image  of  a  corruptible  man,  and  of 
birds  and  of  four-footed  beasts,  and  of  creeping 
things  .  .  .  They  changed  the  truth  of  God  into 
a  lie  ;  and  worshipped  and  served  the  creature 
rather  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed  for  ever  .  . 
And  as  they  liked  not  God  in  their  knowledge, 
God  delivered  them  up  to  a  reprobate  sense,  to  do 
those  things  which  are  not  convenient.’’  * 

Let  not  the  friends  of  Reason,  then,  be  dis¬ 
mayed,  or  fearful  that  in  casting  off  the  false  and 
vain  speculations  of  philosophers,  Reason  thereby 
is  in  any  way  condemned  or  depreciated.  On  the 
Lontrary,  it  is  in  the  august  name  of  Reason  that  we 


•  Rom.  c.  1. 


80  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

declare  that  both  ancient  and  modern  philosophy 
have  failed  in  a  most  decided,  not  to  say  shameful 
manner,  to  meet  the  great  questions  which  agitate 
the  human  mind.  It  is  hy  the  light  of  Keason,  and 
on  its  authority,  we  are  bold^  to  give  our  deliberate 
and  emphatic  decision  against  their  speculations  as 
the  fruits  of  a  fair,  impartial,  and  faithful  exercise 
of  its  powers. 

Every  lofty  thought  of  man's  intelligence  and 
every  noble  impulse  of  the  soul,  revolts  at  the  idea 
of  accepting  philosophy  with  its  lifeless  abstractions, 
and  its  dry  and  dreary  speculations,  as  satisfactory 
answers  to  the  earnest  and  solemn  demands  of 
Reason.  This  would  be  to  dry  up  our  noblest 
aspirations,  to  palsy  our  holiest  affections,  and 
spread  desolation  throughout  the  soul. 

The  idea  of  others,  that  men  should  wait  for 
the  solutions  of  the  great  problems  of  their  exist¬ 
ence  until  philosophy  has  accomplished  the  task, 
is  so  preposterous,  that  it  requires  an  enormous 
amount  of  credulity  to  entertain  it  for  a  single 
moment  ;  and  it  exacts  an  incredible  effrontery  to 
put  it  forth  in  the  face  of  the  history  of  philosophy. 

Assuredly,"  says  one,  who  ought  to  know, 
“  the  circle  of  incertitudes  has  been  enlarged,  new 
questions  have  been  added  to  those  which  philos¬ 
ophy  agitated  at  her  cradle  ;  hut  the  new-comers 


ASPIRATIONS  OF  REASON. 


81 


have  had  no  better  fortune  than  the  ancients. 
Take  any  philosophical  question  ;  note  the  day  on 
which  the  first  systems  to  give  it  a  solution  arose  ; 
compare  those  systems  with  those  of  to-day,  which 
dispute  the  honor  to  decide  it ;  you  will  find, 
doubtless,  greater  perfection  and  development  in 
the  latter,  but  you  will  see  that  their  probability  is 
not  varied.  If  each  one  taken  separately  is  the 
strongest,  the  equilibrium  between  them  is  the 
same  ;  and  their  progress,  far  from  resulting  in  the 
solution  of  the  question,  has  only  consecrated  in  a 
more  precise  and  more  scientific  manner,  its  incerti¬ 
tude.  So  that,  if  one  asks  philosojihy  what  it  has 
done  since  its  existence,  it  can  answer,  that  it  has 
given  birth,  and  brought  to  a  greater  and  greater 
perfection,  systems  which  can  aspire  to  the  honor 
to  solve  it ;  hut  that  she  has  not  solved  one  of 
these  questions.  Behold,  then,  what  philosophy 
cannot  say,  because,  if  she  said  it,  she  would  be 
forced  to  find  examples,  one  at  least, — that  is  to 
say,  to  disinter  a  philosophical  question  which  has 
been  definitely  solved,  as  a  crowd  of  questions  of 
physics  and  chemistry,  and  this  example  she  will 

not  find,  because  it  does  not  exist.  And  neverthe- 

/ 

less  these  questions,  Pythagoras  and  Democritus, 
Aristotle  and  Plato,  Zeno  and  Epicurus,  Bacon  and 
Descartes,  Leibnitz,  Malebranche,  Locke  and  Kant, 

4», 


82  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

have  examined  and  discussed.  It  is  not  the  fault 
of  genius  that  they  have  not  been  solved.  What 
is  there  in  philosophy  that  has  rendered  all  this 
genius  helpless  ?  Whence  comes  it  that  a  science 
stirred  hy  such  powerful  hands,  remains  eternally 
barren  ?  There,  is  the  problem  in  which  all  the  fu¬ 
ture  of  philosophy  is  placed,  and  so  long  as  it  i? 
not  solved,  one  is  confounded  that  distinguished 
minds  venture  still  to  cultivate  a  science  so  much 
cultivated,  discuss  those  questions  so  muclt  dis¬ 
cussed  ;  as  if,  after  the  shipwreck  of  such  great 
men,  any  intelligence,  before  discovering  the  rock 
on  which  they  split,  can  flatter  itself  to  be  rnore 
skilful  or  more  fortunate,  and  to  arrive  at  the  port 
which  escaped  them.'’  * 

After  such  an  explicit  and  frank  admission  of 
the  inadequateness  of  philosophy — to  tell  men  to 
wait  for  the  solutions  of  the  great  questions  of 
their  existence  until  they  are  solved  by  philoso¬ 
phers,  this  is,  indeed,  to  prate  nonsense,  insin¬ 
cerity  and  sham  ;  this  is  mockery  and  delusion. 

Accordingly,  the  pages  of  history  prove,  prove 
convincingly,  that  no  one  man  or  body  of  men,  or 
nation,  however  great,  learned,  or  civilized,  suc¬ 
ceeded  with  philosophy  in  establishing  a  Eeligion 
which  answered  satisfactorily  the  demands  of 
Eeason. 


•  JoufProy,  Nouveaux  Melanjts  Phlles.  p.  9(^96. 


ASPIRATIONS  OF  REASON. 


83 


But  wlio  now  will  satisfactorily  answer  the 
demands  of  Reason.?  Six  thousand  yeai^s  have 
passed  on,  and  no  man,  or  body  or  class  of  men, 
has  yet  been  equal  to  the  task.  And  what  does 
this  fact  practically  indicate  ?  It  is  a  practical 
indication,  in  the  plainest  way  possible,  that  man 
needs  a  guide  greater  than  himself,  to  open  to  Ihm 
the  path  to  the  realization  of  his  sublime  destiny. 
It  indicates  that  no  one  hut  the  great  Author  of 
man^s  existence  is  competent  to  solve  satisfactorily 
the  great  question  of  Reason,  and  to  teach  him 
the  way  of  accomplishing  the  great  purpose  of  his 
existence.  It  indicates  that  man  is  endowed  with 
the  capacity  which  is  susceptible  of  receiving  a 
light  superior  to  that  of  which  he  is  in  possession. 
And  is  not  this  to  assert  the  nobility  of  man^s 
origin,  the  dignity  of  his  nature,  and  the  gran¬ 
deur  of  his  destiny  ?  Is  not  this  the  crowning  of 
Reason  with  a  diadem  of  divine  hrilhancy,  splen¬ 
dor  and  beauty  ? 

Let  us,  however,  adjourn,  and  discuss  this  all- 
important  question  at  the  tribunal  of  the  whole 
human  race.  For  the  constant  and  unanimous 
testimony  of  the  spontaneous  behef  of  mankind 
claims  our  homage  and  exacts  our  assent. 


xin. 


Jkimissiffns. 


'^Sxcnse  me!  <.n  these  olden  pages 
We  catch  the  spirit  of  the  by-gone  ages — 

We  see  what  wisest  men  before  our  day  have  thought.*' 

Gobthb. 


Man,  from  the  very  cradle  of  his  history,  and 
every  where,  and  throughout  the  course  of 
time,  acknowledged  the  necessity,  and  looked  up 
to  heaven  above  for  the  hght  to  solve  the  dark 
enigmas  connected  with  his  present  existence.  Nc 
class  of  individuals  have  borne  more  emphatic 
testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  above  statement, 
and  made  more  explicit  avowals  of  this  need,  than 
the  philosophers  both  ancient  and  modern.  It 
will  not  he  uninteresting  to  listen  awhile  to  theii? 
4)nfessions  on  this  point. 


ADMISSIONS. 


85 


From  the  b’jgirming,  Truth  was  regarded,  not 
as  a  product  of  the  earth,  or  the  creation  of  man, 
but  as  a  gift  of  Heaven.  Thus  Zoroaster  says  : 
“  The  Truth  is  not  a  plant  of  this  earth.'^ 

Socrates  tells  Alcibiades,  who  was  about  to 
offer  up  sacrifice,  and  at  the  same  time  was  in 
great  perplexity  and  fear  about  the  way  to  pray 
to  the  divinity  :  “  It  seems  to  me  necessary  for  us 
to  wait  until  some  one  comes  to  instruct  us  how 
we  ought  to  conduct  ourselves  towards  God  and 
men.  Until  this  comes  to  pass,  it  were  better 
that  you  should  defer  your  offering,  not  knowing 
whether  it  will  be  pleasing,  or  a  source  of  dis¬ 
pleasure  to  God.’^ 

And  in  speaking  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  he  says  in  Phaedon  :  “  The  Sage  in  this 
matter  should  hold  what  appears  to  him  the  most 
probable,  unless  he  has  a  surer  light,  or  the  word 
of  God  himself  for  his  guide  to  show  him  the  way." 

Plato  does  not  differ  from  his  master  on  this 
subject.  In  Epinomede,  advising  a  legislator  never 
to  meddle  with  religious  matters,  he  gives  his 
reason  for  this  advice  by  saying  :  Because  it  is 
not  possible  for  mortals  to  arrive  at  any  thing 
certain  in  such  matters."  In  the  fifth  book  of 
Laws  he  counsels  to  consult  the  oracles  touching 


*  2d  Dialog.  Aleiab. 


8b  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

the  v^orship  of  the  gods/^  because  we  of  ourselves 
know  nothing  concerning  this  subject.^ 

Cicero,  to  pass  to  the  Komans,  in  his  Tusculan 
Questions,  in  resuming  the  different  opinions  of 
philosophers,  confesses  that  a  divine  light  is  neces¬ 
sary  to  discover  which  of  them  is  the  true  one. 

It  would  require,'^  such  is  his  language,  a  god 
to  decide  which  of  their  opinions  is  the  true  one.’' 

Jamblichus,  in  his  life  of  Pythagoras,  says 
that  Man  is  obliged  to  do  what  is  agreeable  to 
God  ;  hut,”  he  avows,  “  that  it  is  not  easy  to 
discover  this  unless  one  has  learnt  it  from  God 
himself,  or  from  the  Genii,  or  from  one  who  has 
been  enlightened  by  a  divine  light.”  Equally  ex¬ 
plicit,  and  to  the  point,  is  his  acknowledgment  in 
his  hook  of  mysteries  :  It  is  impossible,”  he  says, 
to  speak  rightly  of  the  gods  unless  they  them 
selves  instruct  us.” 

No  man,”  says  Seneca,  is  in  condition  to 
help  himself ;  some  one  above  him  must  stretch 
forth  his  hand  to  raise  him  up.”  ^ 

“  According  to  Proclus  :  We  shall  never  learn 
what  regards  the  Divinity  unless  we  are  enlight¬ 
ened  by  a  divine  light  from  heaven.”  f 

Juhan  avows  that  “we  should  regard  one  as 
a  pure  intelUgence,  or  rather  as  a  god  than  a  man. 


*  Epia.  52. 


t  In  Platon,  TheoL  e.  1. 


ADMISSIONS. 


87 


tvho  should  possess  the  knowledge  of  the  nature 
of  God.’^  - 

Xenophon  in  his  Memo  rah.  Socrat.,  lib.  4  ; 
Plutarch  in  his  treatise  on  Isis  and  Osiris  ;  Marcus 
Aurelius  Antoninus  at  the  end  of  his  Moral  Ke- 
flectionSj  Yol.  I.  ;  in  a  word,  all  the  great  philoso¬ 
phers  of  the  ancient  world,  agree  with  Socrates  and 
Plato,  that  the  great  enigmas  of  life  can  only  he 
solved  by  the  aid  of  a  special  light  from  heaven. 

It  is  therefore  on  the  plain,  positive,  and  un¬ 
impeachable  testimony  of  the  philosophers  them¬ 
selves,  that  we  are  furnished  the  basis  of  the  affir¬ 
mation  of  the  need  of  a  light  superior  to  that  of 
Reason  to  answer  its  own  demands. 

If  our  modern  philosophers  have  not  made  the 
same  frank  and  candid  avowals,  it  is  not  to  he 
attributed  to  their  superiority  of  genius  over  the 
ancients,  or  their  philosophical  discoveries,  hut  to 
their  lack  of  a  disinterested  love  for  truth  and 
genuine  science. 

We  have,  however,  seen  the  insufficiency  of 
modern  philosophy  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  Rea¬ 
son,  and  this  to  every  one  who  would  be  loyal  to 
his  Reason,  and  who  would  not  give  up  his  soul, 
speaks  a  language  louder  and  easier  of  interpre¬ 
tation  than  words. 


*  Latter  to  Thennls. 


58  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


The  more  noble-minded  and  loyal  souls  among 
these,  even,  gave  vent  to  the  plaint  of  Keason, 
and  the  cry  of  conscience  that  the  efforts  and  re¬ 
sults  of  philosophy  are  not  satisfactory.  We  have 
only  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  frank  and  candid 
confessions  of  the  distinguished  pupil  of  V.  Cousin, 
M.  Jouffroy,  and  the  avowals  of  Hegers  disciple 
Heine,  in  the  foregoing  pages. 

No  less  candid,  mournful,  and  sincere  are  the 
confessions  of  Schiller  the  poet.  Schiller,  at  an 
early  period  of  his  life,  devoted  himself,  with  all  his 
ardor  and  enthusiasm,  to  the  study  of  philosophy 
We  have  the  whole  history  of  this  period  of  his 
life  told  in  a  song  entitled 

THE  PILGRIM! 

Life’s  first  beams  were  bright  around  me, 

When  I  left  my  father’s  cot, 

Breaking  every  tie  that  bound  me 
To  the  dear  and  hallowed  spot. 

Childish  hopes  and  youthful  pleasures, 

Freely  I  renounced  them  all ; 

Went  in  quest  of  nobler  treasures, 

Trusting  to  a  higher  call. 

For  to  me  a  voice  had  spoken. 

And  a  spirit  seemed  to  say : 

Wander  forth ;  the  path  is  broken  ; 

Yonder,  eastward,  lies  the  way, 


ADMISSIONS 


89 


Rest  not,  till  a  golden  portal 

Thou  hast  reached ; — there  enter  in  ; 

And  what  thou  hast  procured  as  mortal, 

There  immortal  life  shall  win. 

Evening  came,  and  morn  succeeded  ; 

On  I  sped,  and  never  tired ; 

Cold,  nor  heat,  nor  storm,  I  heeded ; 

Boundless  hope  my  soul  inspired. 

Giant  cliffs  rose  up  before  me ; 

Horrid  wilds  around  me  lay  ; 

O’er  the  cliffs  my  spirit  bore  me ; 

Through  the  wilds  I  forced  my  way. 

Came  to  where  a  mighty  river 
Eastvvard  rolled  its  sullen  tide  ; 

Forth  T  launched  with  bold  endeavor, — 

“  Pilgrim  stream,  be  thou  my  guide  !  ” 

It  hath  brought  me  to  the  ocean : 

Now,  upon  the  wide,  wide  sea, 

Where’s  the  land  of  my  devotion  ? 

What  I  seek  seems  still  to  flee. 

Woe  is  me  !  no  path  leads  hither, 

Earth’s  horizon  still  retreats ; 

Yonder  never  will  come  hither, 

Sea  and  sky  will  never  meet. 

Philosoplay,  by  its  glowing  promises,  excited 
in  tbe  bosom  of  Schiller  wbat  it  bad  done  in 
Jonffroy,  boundless  hopes  ;  **  they  both  pursued 


90  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


it  with  all  the  devotion  and  courage  of  youth,  and 
the  results  in  both  cases  were  the  same — they 
were  left  on  a  trackless  beach,  with  a  vague,  hope¬ 
less,  boundless  sea  before. 

We  may  add  to  these,  the  testimony  of  one 
of  our  own  countrymen,  whose  authority  in  such 
matters  is  preeminent,  and  extends  abroad. 

This  question,  how  to  worsliip  God,  is  the 
question  of  questions.  It  is  terrible  to  feel  that 
Reason  imposes  an  obligation  which  it  cannot 
instruct  us  how  to  fulfil,  to  find  ourselves  with 
broad  conceptions  which  we  know  not  how  to 
realize,  with  a  sense  of  duty  hanging  over  us 
which  we  cannot  practically  fulfil,  and  to  hesitate 
between  probabilities,  to  balance  between  uncer¬ 
tainties,  to  find  the  darkness  increase  as  we  ad¬ 
vance,  and  finally  to  lose  ourselves  in  doubt  and 
bewilderment.  Reason  herself,  if  exercised,  is 
sufficient  to  compel  the  soul  to  ask  this  fearful 
question,  but  what  is  and  must  be  our  condition, 
if  we  ask  this  question,  and  hear  no  answer  but 
echo  mocking  us  in  the  distance  ? 

Every  man  abandoned  to  nature  and  the 
guidance  of  natural  reason  alone,  does  and  must 
find  himself  in  this  situation,  the  most  painful, 
the  most  terrible,  that  can  be  imagined.  It  is 
certain  that,  in  this  situation,  unless  God  helps 


ADMISSIONS. 


91 


US,  there  is  no  help  for  us  ;  unless  he  points  out 
the  way  of  deliverance,  there  are  no  means  of  our 
restoration,  and  no  chance  of  our  worshipping  him 
as  Eeason  declares  we  are  hound  to  worship  him, 
or  to  gain  the  end,  the  good,  to  which  we  are 
appointed. 

Are  we,  however,  left  in  this  condition  Has 
not  God,  in  fact,  had  compassion  on  us,  and  has 
he  not  made  a  revelation  of  his  mercy  ?  Has  he 
not  made  it  possible  for  us  to  render  him  the 
worship  which  is  his  due,  and  to  attain  to  the 
good  which  he  originally  intended  us  ?  These 
are  important  questions.  If  they  can  be  answered 
in  the  affirmative,  there  is  hope  for  man  ;  his  face 
may  resume  the  smile  of  gladness,  and  a  well  of 
joy  may  spring  up  in  his  heart.  If  not,  there  is 
nothing  for  us  but  the  blackness  of  despair,  un- 
faihng  sorrow  and  ceaseless  remorse.” 

We  have  another  striking  evidence,  and  a 
practical  acknowledgment  of  the  need  of  our 
receiving  light  from  a  higher  source  to  meet  the 
demands  of  Keason.  What  O'ther  rational  expla¬ 
nation  can  be  given  to  the  recourse  in  ancient 
times  to  the  practice  of  Theurgy,  Magic,  Astrology, 
Horoscopes,  Omens,  Divinations,  etc.,  and  in  oui 
day  to  the  practice  of  Magnetism,  Somnam- 


*  Browiuoii.  Berl«w.  l&48i, 


92  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


bulism,  Table-Tipping,  and  other  species  of  Nec 
romancy,  than  the  working  of  a  mysterious  instinct 
of  our  nature  to  seek  for  help  to  solve  the  enigmas 
of  life  and  its  future  destiny.  Is  not  this  an  open 
confession  to  all  who  have  not  closed  up  their  ears, 
and  shut  the  doors  of  their  understanding,  that 
Reason  herself,  if  unswayed,  leads  man  to  look 
beyond  her  bounds,  for  the  light  which  is  needed 
to  answer  the  questions  which  torment  her  ?  He 
therefore  is  not  the  friend  of  Reason,  who,  under 
the  pretext  of  her  defence,  would  stifle  these  com¬ 
mon  instincts  of  our  nature,  and  close  her  eyes 
against  the  light  of  heaven. 


XIV 


**  From  God  we  come ;  with  aw® 

From  God  those  truths  ideal  draw 
That  mock  the  senses’  ken.” 

Db  Vbbk, 


The  dictates  of  Keason,  the  admissions  of  both 
ancient  and  modern  philosophers,  show  the  need 
of  a  divine  light  to  direct  man  to  his  sublime 
destiny.  This  is  also  confirmed  by  the  voice  of 
humanity,  for  the  unanimous  belief  of  the  race 
testifies  that  Keligion  takes  its  origin  from  the 
fact  of  a  Divine  communication  from  heaven.  The 
religious  history  of  all  nations,  peoples  and  tribes, 
confirms  this  statement.  This  universal  and  spon¬ 
taneous  belief  of  the  human  race  must  be  regarded 
by  all  reasonable  minds  as  having  its  foundations 
in  truth. 


94  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

A  volume  might  easil}^  he  filled  with  testimony 
in  favor  of  this  common  belief  of  mankind  ;  we, 
however  shall  content  ourselves  with  bringing  for¬ 
ward  sufficient  proof  to  put  it  beyond  a  reasonable 
doubt. 

The  ancients.”  such  is  the  testimony  of  Soc¬ 
rates.  were  hettei  than  we,  and  nearer  the  gods  ; 
they  have  transmitted  to  us  the  sublime  knowledge 
which  they  received  from  them  ...  to  abandon 
their  opinions  is  to  go  astray.”  * 

Plato  affirms  that  It  behooves  us  to  believe 
without  any  opposition  what  the  ancients  have 
transmitted  to  us  concerning  the  things  which 
regard  religion.”  And  the  reason  for  this  is, — 
“  Because  the  first  men,  coming  immediately  from 
the  hands  of  the  gods,  must  have  known  best 
concerning  this  matter,  and  we  ought  to  believe 
their  testimony.”  'j'  In  his  works  on  Politics,  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  primitive  age,  he  says  :  “  God  himself 
nourished  men,  and  was  their  shepherd,  as  man 
now,  a  divine  creature,  feeds  the  lower  animals.” 

On  this  jioint  Aristotle  agrees  with  his  master 
Plato.  Do  you  desire  to  discover  the  truth,” 
says  Aristotle,  with  certitude  ;  then  separate 
with  care  what  is  of  primitive  origin,  and  hold 
that  ;  it  is  that,  in  truth,  which  is  .the  original 

•  t  Tim#©. 


TESTIMONY. 


95 


dogma,  which  can  come  surely  from  no  other 
source  than  God’s  own  word.” 

Cicero  says  the  same  thing.  There  was,” 
such  IS  his  language,  there  w^as  primitively  a 
society  of  Keason  with  God.”  f 

Again,  in  the  Tusculan  Questions-,  he  says  : 
“  The  Laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  ordain  that  we 
should  hold  the  religion  of  our  ancestors  ;  and  that, 
because  they  were  nearer  to  the  gods  ;  and  hence 
religion  in  this  wise  was  guaranteed  to  man  as  a 
divine  institution.” 

The  Stoic,  Marcus  Aurelius,  in  his  first  book, 
and  the  later  Neo-Platonists,  acknowledge  that 
religion  is  an  inspiration,  a  gift  of  the  gods. 

The  primitive  communication  of  God  with 
men,  the  age  of  innocence  and  happiness,  is  found 
on  almost  every  page  of  the  poets  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  under  the  image  of  the  Golden  Age — 

“  That  fair  age  of  which  the  poets  tell, 

Ere  yet  the  winds  grew  keen  with  frost,  or  fire 
Fell  with  the  rains,  or  spouted  from  the  hfils, 

To  blast  thy  greenness,  while  the  virgin  nig'^t 
Was  guiltless  and  salubrious  as  the  day.”  J 

*  Metaph.  xviu  c.  viii.  t  De  leg.  lib.  1.  c.  i  b 

?  Jiartii,  by  Bryant.  See  Virgil,  Georg.,  lib.  1.  Juvenal,  Satyr,  vi.  Ovio, 
Metamorphosis,  lib.  1.  The  same  traditions  are  found  among  the  Certjians 
see  Plutarch  on  Isis  and  Osiris ;  and  other  nations. 


96  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

Even  Volney^  in  bringing  together  the  different 
kinds  of  religious  belief  of  mankind,  in  one  point 
makes  them  all  agree,  and  that  is,  their  doctrines 
had  for  their  basis  a  divine  communication  from 
heaven. 

The  various  groups,"'  he  says,  having  taken 
their  places  .  .  .  Then,  by  order  of  position,  the 
first  standard  on  the  left  was  allowed  to  speak. 

“You  are  not  permitted  to  doubt,""  said  their 
chiefs,  “  that  our  doctrine  is  the  only  true  and 
infallible  one.  First,  it  is  revealed  by  God  him¬ 
self"" 

“  So  is  ours,""  cried  all  the  other  standards, 
“  and  you  are  not  permitted  to  doubt  it.""  * 

No  one  will  contest  the  value  and  authority 
of  the  Bible  as  an  historical  document,  especially 
when  all  other  historical  records  agree  with  the 
events  which  it  narrates.  The  only  difference 
between  the  Traditions  above,  and  those  recorded 
in  the  Scriptures  is,  that  the  latter  are  more  clear, 
more  authentic,  and  more  consonant  with  enlight¬ 
ened  Keason. 

In  Genesis  we  are  told  that  “God  created 
man  m  his  own  image  and  likeness,  and  walked 
with  him  m  the  cool  of  the  day."" 

But  we  have  a  more  ample  account  of  this 


•  Buins.  «.  xxt 


TESTIMONY. 


97 


period  in  the  Book  of  Ecclesiasticus.  There  we 
are  told — 

God  created  man  of  the  earth,  and  made 
him  after  his  own  image  .  .  .  He  created  of  him 
a  helpmate  like  to  himself :  he  gave  them  counsel, 
and  a  tongue,  and  eyes,  and  ears,  and  a  heart  to 
devise  ;  and  he  filled  them  with  knowledge  and 
understanding.  He  created  in  them  the  science 
of  the  spirit,  he  filled  their  heart  with  wisdom, 
and  showed  them  both  good  and  evil.  He  set  his 
eyes  upon  their  hearts  to  show  them  the  greatness 
of  his  works  ;  that  they  might  praise  the  name  he 
hath  sanctified,  and  glory  in  his  wondrous  works  ; 
that  they  might  declare  the  glorious  things  of  his 
works.  Moreover,  he  gave  them  instructions  and 
the  law  of  life  for  an  inheritance.  He  made  an 
everlasting  covenant  with  them,  and  he  showed 
them. his  justice  and  judgments.  And  their  eyes 
saw  the  majesty  of  his  glory,  and  their  ears  heard 
his  glorious  voice,  and  he  said  to  them  :  Beware 
of  all  iniquity.  And  he  gave  to  every  one  com¬ 
mandment  concerning  his  neighbor.’' 

In  this  account  of  man's  primitive  condition 
we  have  the  orig-inal  of  those  more  or  less  obscure 

O 

traditions  of  all  peoples,  of  which  the  ancient 
bards,  poets,  and  sibyls  sung,  and  which  humanity 
never  once  doubted. 


*  Eoclua.  xvli 


98  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE 

The  results  of  the  labors  of  all  past  philosophy, 
the  aspirations  of  Keason,  confirmed  by  the  ad¬ 
missions  of  ancient  and  modern  philosophers,  the 
spontaneous  voice  of  humanity,  form  one  concert 
to  proclaim  the  great  need  of  a  special  light  from 
heaven  to  solve  the  dark  problems  of  man’s  exist¬ 
ence,  and  to  point  out  the  way  to  the  accomplish 
ment  of  his  divine  destiny. 


“  Kaise  thou  up  thy  head ;  for  know 
Tiino  Is  not  now  for  slow  suspense.  Behold 
That  way,  an  angel  hastening  towards  u».” — Danis. 

Philosophy,  both  ancient  and  modern,  hair¬ 
ing  proved  insufficient,  and  the  dictates  o^ 
Reason,  the  admissions  of  pliilosophers,  and  the 
history  of  all  rehgious  beliefs,  pointing  us  upward 
to  look  for  the  light  needed  to  solve  the  dark  enig¬ 
mas  of  our  existence,  what  are  we  to  do  ?  What 
is  our  duty  ?  Somewhere  it  must  exist,  for  surely 
God  has  not  brought  us  unto  darkness. 

Not  to  advance  when  Reason  and  the  sponta¬ 
neous  belief  of  the  race  point  out  the  way,  would 
be  to  yield  up  our  manhood  and  our  humanity. 
Onward  !  in  obedience  to  our  holiest  instincts, 
looking  heavenward  for  the  hght  to  solve  the  mys- 


100  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


teiies  of  our  being  and  existence  !  For  what  is 
there  more  natural  than  for  the  creature  to  look 
up  to  its  Creator,  like  a  child  to  its  mother,  for  the 
solution  of  the  enigmas  which  torment  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  can  one  conceive  of  an  act  of  an  in¬ 
telligent  creature  more  irrational  than  to  refuse 
belief  to  the  voice  of  his  Creator  ?  We,  for  our 
part,  are  unable  to  appreciate  the  feeling  of  those 
who  seem  to  have  a  certain  dread  in  trusting  the 
great  Author  and  Sustainer  of  their  being. 

This  trust  or  belief  lies  back  of  all  our  intel¬ 
lectual  knowledge.  For,  to  know  any  thing,  we 
must  trust  the  certitude  of  the  operations  of  our 
senses,  faculties,  and  powers.  No  thought,  no  sen¬ 
timent,  no  action  can  take  place  unless  preceded 
by  this  belief.  This  principle  we  endeavored  to 
establish  in  the  second  chapter. 

But  on  the  very  same  grounds  that  we  believe 
in  the  testimony  of  our  own  faculties,  we  are  also 
bound  to  believe  in  the  testimony  of  other  men. 
For  Keason  is  one  and  equal  in  its  authority.  If 
this  be  so,  that  man,  by  the  very  law  of  his  exist¬ 
ence,  is  obliged  to  believe  in  the  testimony  of  his 
own  faculties,  and  those  of  other  men,  how  much 
more  is  he  bound,  and  how  much  more  readily 
ought  he,  to  believe  Grod,  who  is  truth  itself,  and 
the  Author  of  his  being,  when  He  speaks  ? 


agreement. 


101 


Few  men  have  so  perverted  their  intellectual 
powers,  or  are  sunk  so  low  in  the  scale  of  moral 
existence,  as  to  he  guilty  of  refusing  belief  to  their 
Creator  and  God.  Should  there  be  one  who  is 
guilty  of  this  crime,  how  can  he  trust  the  testimo¬ 
ny  of  his  own  faculties  which  are  the  work  of 
God's  own  hands  ?  If  the  Creator  himself  can 
deceive  us,  his  creations,  surely,  cannot  be  more 
trustworthy. 

Consequently,  we  believe  the  testimony  of  our 
faculties,  because  it  is  repugnant  to  right  Rea¬ 
son  to  think  that  God  should  create  a  being  whose 
faculties  in  their  normal  state  should  deceive  him. 
And  we  believe  God  because  the  spontaneous  im¬ 
pulses  of  our  nature  lead  us  to  confide  in  Him  as 
our  Creator,  and  as  the  source  of  all  truth,  who 
cannot  deceive  or  be  deceived.  Primarily  our  be¬ 
lief  is  in  God,  and  this  belief  is  the  starting  point 
and  end  of  all  knowledge. 

The  pretension  of  others,  who  profess  to  believe 
only  what  they  comprehend,  is  the  promulgation 
of  a  patent  absurdity.  Belief  and  comprehension 
are  different  operations  of  our  faculties,  and  it  is 
no  mark  of  intelligence  to  confound  them. 

Do  these  professors  know  what  it  means  to 
exclude  from  the  mind  that  which  lies  beyond  oui 
powers  of  comprehension  ?  Do  they  know  that 


102  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

the  moment  a  man  makes  this  the  rule  of  his 
thoughts,  he  must,  if  he  would  he  consistent,  deny 
nis  own  existence.  Reason,  creation,  and  God's  ex¬ 
istence  ?  Thus  this  lofty  pretension  of  non-helief 
ends  in  a  manifest  absurdity. 

For  where  is  there  a  man  who  comprehends 
man,  creation,  God  Where  is  there  a  man  who 
comprehends  what  it  is  to  see,  feel,  hear,  or  think  ? 
Where  is  there  a  philosopher  who  can  explain  the 
simplest  movement  of  his  own  body  ?  Why,  the 
smallest  grain  of  sand  that  he  treads  under  his 
foot,  the  meanest  blade  of  grass  that  he  passes  un¬ 
noticed,  the  feeblest  tone  that  is  wafted  on  the 
winds,  present  to  the  mind  of  man  mysteries  as 
incomprehensible  as  the  unfathomable  Godhead. 
There  is  not  in  this  wide  universe  any  thing  which 
is  not  in  some  one  or  more  of  its  bearings  beyond 
the  utmost  reach  of  our  comprehension.  To  start 
then  from  the  principle  to  exclude  all  from  the 
mind  which  we  do  not  comprehend,  is  to  believe 
nothing,  to  know  nothing,  to  love  nothing,  and 
to  do  nothing.  For  believing  is  before  all  know¬ 
ing,  all  loving,  all  doing. 

He  who  professes,  therefore,  to  exclude  from 
his  mind  all  that  he  cannot  comprehend,  is  no 
friend  but  the  foe  and  tyrant  of  Reason  ;  for  be¬ 
lief  is  one  of  the  essential  and  legitimate  results  of 
the  exercise  of  Reason. 


AGREEMENT. 


103 


And.  after  all,  these  pretended  non-believers 
believe  in  their  way  as  strongly  as  other  naen. 
They  are  not  able  to  help  themselves.  They  be¬ 
lieve  in  their  senses  ;  for  they  eat,  and  drink,  and 
love  good  cheer  ;  they  believe  in  money,  station, 
and  the  gratification  of  their  instincts  and  pas¬ 
sions.  But  on  account  of  a  systematic  perversion 
or  deficiency  of  the  higher  faculties  of  the  soul, 
they  would,  under  the  pretext  of  rationality 
have  men  think  that  their  non-belief  is  a  mark  of 
superior  intellect  and  wisdom  !  This  reasoning 
reminds  us  of  ^sop's  fable  of  the  fox,  who,  being 
caught  in  a  trap,  had  his  tail  cut  off.  Our  readers 
will  remember  the  rest  of  the  story.  So  these 
men  would  have  us  believe  that  their  defect  is  an 
ornament  to  be  coveted. 

Every  integral  intelligent  thinker  cannot  but  hold 
the  man  who  refuses  his  belief  to  truths  which  come 
to  him  with  rational  evidence,  simply  because  they 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  his  comprehension,  for  aa 
great  a  simpleton  as  an  astronomer  who  should  deny 
the  existence  of  the  planets  lying  beyond  the  reach 
of  his  sight,  because  they  are  only  discovered  by 
means  of  the  telescope. 

Another  class  of  men  are  prepared  to  welcome 
and  accept  all  light  and  all  truth,  come  from  what 
tjuarter  it  may  ;  but  they  are  not  ready  to  accept 


104  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


or  admit  any  truth  hostile  to  the  plain  dictates  of 
Eeason,  or  that  rests  not  on  a  rational  and  suffi¬ 
cient  basis.  So  speaks  our  Earnest  Seeker."' 

This  is  the  statement  of  a  sound  and  just 
mind,  and  all  that  can  he  required  of  men  of  this 
class  is  to  act  consistently  and  fearlessly  on  their 
own  principles.  For  light  cannot  contradict  light  ; 
truth  cannot  contradict  truth  ;  nor  does  it  matter 
of  what  orders  these  may  be.  Light  and  truth  are 
like  the  blue  heavens  and  the  wide  ocean,  all  of 
one  piece,  and  blend  and  join  together  in  mutual 
intercourse.  We  may  rest  assured,  therefore,  if 
God  affords  to  man  the  light  to  explain  the  enig¬ 
mas  of  life,  or  makes  known  to  him  any  new  truth, 
these  will  be  in  accordance  with  the  light  of  Eea- 
son,  and  in  harmony  with  the  truths  he  has  already 
knowledge  of. 

Is  it  not  the  height  of  absurdity  to  suppose 
that  there  can  be  any  opposition  betwixt  the  light 
of  heaven  and  the  light  of  Eeason  ?  or  contradic¬ 
tion  between  the  truth  and  the  dictates  of  Eea- 
eon  ?  Truth  in  contradiction  with  the  very 
faculty  to  which  it  is  addressed  !  Truth  hostile 
to  that  faculty  whose  natural  function  is  to  wel¬ 
come,  assent,  and  embrace  it  !  This  is  ridiculous 
nonsense.  For  the  light  of  heaven  to  one  deprived 
of  the  light  of  Eeason  would  be  of  no  more  utility 


* 


AGREEMENT. 


105 


than  the  light  of  the  sun  to  a  man  stark  blind. 
Truth,  without  the  dictates  of  Keason,  would  be 
like  a  tree  without  soil.  When  will  men  open 
their  eyes  and  learn  that  the  voice  of  Heaven,  the 
voice  of  Keason,  and  the  voice  of  the  vast  uni¬ 
verse,  form  in  concert  a  hymn  of  praise  to  God 
who  is  their  origin  and  final  cause. 

But  does  not  the  belief  in  what  lies  beyond 
our  comprehension,  in  a  word  religious  belief,  as  it 
is  called,  when  once  admitted,  set  aside  Keason, 
limit  its  exercise,  and  tend  to  stultify  it 

A  little  indulgence,  generous  reader  ;  after  the 
exposition  of  this  mistake,  we  will  advance  on  a 
clear  and  unobstructed  path  to  our  purpose. 

Would  it  not  be  extremely  silly  to  suppose 
that  the  acceptance  of  the  additional  knowledge 
of  the  wonders  of  the  heavens,  gained  by  powerful 
instruments,  would  lead  one  to  set  aside  the 
organ  of  sight  by  which  this  knowledge  was  ob¬ 
tained  ?  Would  it  not  be  equally  foolish  and 
absurd  to  suppose,  that  because  astronomers  have 
discovered  other  and  larger  luminous  bodies  in  the 
heavens  than  the  sun,  therefore  the  exercise  of  our 
unaided  sight  is  thereby  limited,  its  powers  con¬ 
tracted,  and  rendered  useless  ?  It  is  no  less 
absurd  and  ridiculous  to  suppose  that  the  ad¬ 
ditional  light  and  truth  gained  by  virtue  of  a 
5* 


106  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

reasonable  belief,  set  aside  Eeason,  limit  its  exer¬ 
cise,  and  tend  to  stultify  it.  On  tbe  contrary, 
every  new  truth  that  is  made  known  to  Reason, 
calls  forth  its  exercise,  sheds  additional  light  on 
the  truths  already  known,  makes  them  better 
understood,  and  causes  the  mind  to  hold  them 
more  steadfastly ;  and  is  not  this  upholding 
Reason,  and  giving  to  it  a  new  splendor  and  an 
increasing  beauty  ? 

The  man  therefore  who  believes,  who  possesses 
a  reasonable  belief,  exercises  his  Reason.  No  one 
more  so.  No  one  so  much  so.  He  exercises  the 
faculties  of  Reason  in  a  higher,  wider,  more 
sublime  sphere  than  the  man  of  non-belief.  For 

“  Belief  is  a  higher  faculty  of  Reason 

*  ♦  ★  *  ♦ 

As  the  snow-headed-mountain  rises  o’er 
The  lightning,  and  applies  itself  to  heaven.”  * 

Reasonable  religious  belief  does  not  supplant 
Reason,  nor  diminish  its  exercise,  but  presupposes 
its  activity,  extends  its  boundaries,  elevates  and 
ennobles  it  by  applying  its  powers  to  the  highest 
order  of  truth.  Accordingly  the  truths  gained  by 
rirtue  of  religious  belief,  take  the  deepest  root  it 
the  heart,  and  fix  themselves  most  firmly  in  the 
mind,  and  eh'cit  the  noblest  deeds  of  sell-sacrifice, 


*  Bailey. 


AGREEMENT. 


107 


of  heroism,  and  the  highest  form  of  martyrdom. 
Is  not  this  an  evident  proof  of  their  congeniahty 
with  human  nature,  their  elevating  power,  and 
divine  origin  ? 

.Surely,  then,  he  who  deprives  himself  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  order  of  truths  made  known  to 
us  by  the  exercise  of  a  reasonable  religious  belief, 
voluutarily  condemns  himself  to  live  on  a  lower 
range  of  thought  and  feeling,  is  false  to  his  holiest 
instincts,  and  is  the  author  of  his  own  degradation. 

The  purpose  then  of  true  Keligion  is  to  open 
to  the  eye  of  Keason  its  divine  origin,  to  elevate  it 
to  the  plane  of  its  glorious  destiny,  and  consecrate 
all  the  powers  of  the  soul  to  its  realization. 

The  aim  of  Keligion  is  to  meet  the  lofty  aspi¬ 
rations  of  Keason,  and  answer  the  infinite  longings 
of  our  nature.  Let  us  then  not  refuse  the  light  of 
heaven.  Let  us  be  loyal  to  Keason,  and  raise  up 
Human  Nature  to  its  divine  grandeur. 


XVI. 


“  But  ah,  with  the  best  will,  I  see  already 
No  peace  will  well  up  in  me,  clear  and  steady. 

But  why  must  hope  so  soon  deceive  us, 

And  the  dried-up  stream  in  fever  leave  us  ? 

For  in  this  I  have  had  a  full  probation ; 

And  yet  for  this  want  a  supply  is  provided, 

To  a  higher  than  earth  the  soul  is  guided. 

We  are  ready  and  yearn  f't  revelation.” 

Goethb’s  FAumt 

WE  cannot  but  consider  it  an  insult  to  tUe 
common  sense  of  our  readers,  for  us  to  at¬ 
tempt  to  carry  them  back  to  the  ancient  religions 
of  Egypt,  Greece,  Eome  or  India,  for  the  needed 
light  of  heaven,  to  answer  to  the  aspirations  of 
Keason  and  the  spontaneous  belief  of  humanity. 
Marcus  Varro,  Celsus,  Julian,  the  schools  of  Alex¬ 
andria,  endeavored,  as  also  did  many  others,  to  re- 


WHITHER? 


109 


Store  Pagan  worship,  but  all  was  in  vain.  And 
now 

‘‘None 

Are  left  to  teach  their  worship.  The  fires 
Of  sacrifice  are  chilled,  and  the  green  moss 
O’ercreeps  their  altars  ;  the  fallen  images 
Cumber  the  weedy  courts,  and  for  loud  hymns,  , 
Chanted  by  kneeling  multitudes,  the  wind 
Shrieks  in  the  solitary  aisles.”  * 

Nor  have  the  less  ancient  religious  beliefs  of 
Arabia,  Gaul,  the  British  Isles,  or  those  of  the 
savages  of  America  or  Australia,  claims  sufficient 
io  engage  our  serious  attention.  The  glance  we 
already  bestowed  on  some  of  the  more  intelligent 
forms  of  these  beliefs,  ought  to  be  sufllciently 
convincing  for  candid  minds,  if  the  common 
convictions  of  civilized  society  did  not  suffice,  to 
acknowledge  their  utter  and  complete  insufficiency. 

There  are  a  few,  here  and  elsewhere,  who  for  a 
•time  seem  interested  in  the  writings  of  the  Per¬ 
sian,  Chinese,  and  Indian  sages  and  philosophers. 
These  researches  we  cannot  but  regard  as  an 
intellectual  amusement,  rather  than  a  single- 
hearted  and  earnest  search  after  truth.  In  those 
who  are  not  led  by  the  novelty  of  the  thing,  it 
may  be  an  attempt  to  shirk,  or  escape,  the  con- 


•  Biyant. 


110  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


victions  and  responsibilities  which  the  dawning 
truth  foreshadows. 

Surely,  in  any  case,  it  is  to  run  athwart  the 
enlightened  and  cherished  convictions  of  civilized 
society,  to  look  for,  or  expect,  a  complete  or  satis¬ 
factory  solution  of  the  great  and  solemn  questions 
which  agitate  Season,  and  press  on  our  attention, 
outside  of  Christianity.  Any  other  hope  or  effort, 
is  to  tamper  with  conscience,  to  trample  upon  our 
moral  sentiments,  and  to  stultify  our  intelligence. 
We  cannot  therefore  respect  ourselves,  or  be  loyal 
to  the  laws  of  our  intellectual  being,  and  look 
with  sincerity  for  a  religion  commensurate  with 
the  demands  of  Season  and  the  wants  of  our 
nature,  except  it  be  in  Christianity. 

There  are  others  who  tell  us  to  look  to  the 
future.  They  speak  of  the  “  Seligion  of  the 
Future  ; The  Church  of  the  Future.^^  Now 
the  idea  of  forming  or  inventing  a  Seligion  at  this 
period  of  the  world^s  history,  is  as  absurd  as  to 
tell  one  who  is  already  famishing  for  bread,  that 
he  must  wait  till  wheat  be  sown,  till  rain  falls, 
the  harvest  ripens  and  is  gathered,  the  grain  be 
ground,  and  the  flour  be  made  into  bread  ; — too 
absurd  for  any  not  bereft  of  their  proper  senses  to 
entertain. 

“Every  day,”  says  a  modem  author,  “wo 


WHITHER? 


Ill 


hear  the  future  religion  of  mankind  announced  ; 
if  they  cannot  produce  it,  at  least  they  prophecy 
its  coming.  They  transform  powerlessness  into 
hope.  But  mankind  has  no  time  to  spend  in 
waiting  ;  it  desires  God  for  to-day,  and  not  for 
to-morrow.  It  has  hungered  and  thirsted  after 
God  for  six  thousand  years  ;  and  you  appearing 
so  late,  when  you  set  yourselves  about  the  work 
of  providing  for  wants  so  deeply  felt,  for  aspirations 
which  centuries  have  not  weakened,  you  are  still 
reduced  to  prophecies  !  F or  me,  all  that  does  not 
furnish  humanity  with  its  daily  bread,  I  do  not 
believe  in.  I  believe  God  has  been  the  father 
from  the  beginning  of  the  soul  as  well  as  of  the 
body  ;  I  believe  that  the  harvests  are  all  come, 
that  the  rain  has  fallen  ;  that,  in  the  order  of 
truth,  as  in  the  order  of  nature,  man  not  only 
hungers,  but  is  also  satisfied  when  he  wills  it. 
The  bread  is  ready  ;  God  has  kneaded  it  with  his 
own  hands  ;  that  which  is  wanting  is  the  will  to 
take  it  as  God  has  prepared  it.  Men  prefer  to 
prepare  it  according  to  their  own  tastes  ;  they  ask 
from  Reason  what  Reason  is  unable  to  give  them/’ 
The  idea  then  of  forming  or  waiting  for  a  new 
religion  is  a  flat  denial  of  God’s  providence  ;  and 
a  mere  subterfuge  of  a  certain  class  of  men  to 
escape  the  claims  of  truth.  Comte  reveals  thei? 


112  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


secret  when  he  says  that  The  Religion  of  the 
Future  is  no  religion/' 

If,  therefore,  we  are  to  have  a  Religion  calcu¬ 
lated  for  man's  true  happiness,  one  that  can  give 
satisfactory  solutions  to  the  enigmas  of  life,  and 
present  to  us  a  pure  worship  acceptable  to  God,  it 
is  to  be  found  in  Christianity,  or  to  be  looked  upon 
as  a  phantom  of  despair  ! 

But  what  is  Christianity  ?  The  answer  to 
this  important  question  is  not  so  clear,  for  Chris¬ 
tianity  is  not  one,  but  divided.  Divided,  however, 
so  far  as  we  are  at  present  concerned,  into  twc 
great  parties.  The  answer,  therefore,  to  the  ques¬ 
tion,  What  is  Christianity  ?  is  twofold. 

The  first  division  of  Christianity,  and  the  one 
which  bespeaks  our  earliest  attention,  because  it 
promises  to  be  more  favorable  to  our  demands  and 
more  in  accordance  with  our  sentiments  ;  the  one 
of  our  childhood  and  education;  the  one  which 
claims  to  have  emancipated  human  thought,  broken 
the  chains  that  shackled  man’s  free  activity,  and 
opened  up  to  him  the  true  pathway  to  his  glorious 
destiny — need  we  name  it — it  is  the  religion  which 
broke  forth  in  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen¬ 
tury  ; — the  Religion  of  Luther,  Melancthon,  Calvin, 
Knox,  Cranmer,  Fox,  and  Wesley  —  Protestam 
Christianity. 


'whither? 


113 


Surely  we  shall  not  fail  to  meet  with  entire 
and  perfect  success,  when  we  ask,  what  do  these 
great  lights  of  the  Keformation  teach  in  regard  to 
the  nature  and  dignity  of  man^s  Reason,  its  rights 
and  value,  its  liberty  and  independence  ?  Has 
not  Protestantism  emancipated  human  Reason  ? 
consecrated  its  sovereignty  ?  asserted  man's  free¬ 
dom  ?  upheld  the  dignity  of  human  nature  ?  Has 
it  not  restored  to  man  a  reasonable  worship,  one 
acceptable  to  God,  and  in  accordance  with  man's 
intelligence  and  moral  feelings  ?  Surely  it  has  done 
all  this,  and  much  more  of  the  same  nature,  and 
to  ask  such  questions  in  our  enlightened  day  is  to 
acknowledge  oneself  behind  the  times,  uninformed 
of  the  commonest  events,  unacquainted  with  mod¬ 
ern  literature  and  the  common  language  of  civilized 
society.  The  merest  schoolboy  is  prepared  to 
answer  questions  such  as  these  without  a  moment's 
hesitation.  Our  task  is  an  easy  one.  The  result 
can  but  be  favorable  to  the  cause  of  genuine  Pro¬ 
testant  religion. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  remember,  however,  that 
our  ‘^Earnest  Seeker"  at  the  outset  resolved  to 
repudiate  all  creeds  and  systems  of  belief  which 
were  found  contradicting  the  plain  dictates  of 
Reason,  or  the  clear  convictions  of  conscience. 
He  was  fully  determined  to  discard  a  religion 


il4  THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 


which  should  demand  in  any  respect  the  sacrifice 
of  Reason,  or  whose  doctrines  should  tend  to  dis¬ 
parage  this  noble  gift  of  heaven.  He  was  also 
firmly  determined  not  to  suffer  any  religious  belief 
to  trample  upon,  or  to' mutilate,  or  to  destroy,  the 
integrity  and  dignity  of  human  nature.  This  was 
his  starting  point.  These  were  his  principles,  and 
are  these  not  those  of  every  intelligent  mind  and 
thinker  ? 

How  now  does  the  religion  of  the  great  Re¬ 
formation  meet  this  appreciation  of  Reason  ? 
Does  it  harmonize  with  these  convictions  ?  Does 
it  look  to  Reason  as  the  guide  of  man  to  truth? 
appeal  to  it  for  its  approbation  ?  seek  to  convince 
it  of  the  truth  by  affording  clear  and  rational  argu¬ 
ments  ?  Does  it  give  to  the  enigmas  of  Reason  a 
clear  and  reasonable  solution  ?  Does  it  uphold  the 
free  and  lawful  exercise  of  Reason,  and  the  dignity 
of  Human  Nature  ?  Or  does  Protestantism  repu¬ 
diate  Reason,  trample  upon  the  convictions  of  con¬ 
science,  and  endeavor  to  mutilate  and  abase  man's 
nature  ? 

To  be  just,  frank,  and  unbiassed,  we  must 
examine  the  Protestant  Religion  in  its  sources, 
follow  it  through  to  its  legitimate  consequences, 
and  look  at  it  in  its  practical  results. 

This  all-important  inquiry  shall  begin  with  the 
following  chapter. 


PEOTEST ANTI8M. 


- - 

XVII. 

^tasirn. 

“  The  Bfiforma>'iloii  is  the  consecration  of  the  sovereignty  of. the  indiyidoiil 
Eeason,”— GtrizoT,  HUt.  Civil,  12  LeQcm. 

UTHER  is  the  key  of  the  Eeformation/'  * 
Jj  so  we  are  told  on  the  .high  authority  of  the 
historian  of  the  Protestant  Keligion.  Let  us  em¬ 
ploy  this  key  to  unlock  the  precious  treasures  of 
that  powerful  movement  which  changed,  in  a 
measure,  the  Christian  hehef  of  sixteen  centuries. 

What  then  did  Dr.  Martin  Luther  teach  con¬ 
cerning  the  nature  and  dignity  of  human  Keason  ; 
— the  light  which  is  given  to  every  man  who 
cometh  into  the  world  as  his  guide  and  instrument 
in  the  discovery  of  Truth  ?  Let  us  interrogate  and 
listen  to  the  teaching  of  the  oracle  of  the  Keligion 
of  the  Keformation.  What  does  he  think  of  man  ? 


•  D’Aublcny, 


116 


PROTESTANTISM. 


^  If  you  wish  to  define  man  rightly/'  he  tells 
us,  you  may  say  that  he  is  a  rational  animal, 
endowed  with  reason  and  possessing  a  heart,  which 
are  inventive." 

A  definition  which  may  pass  ;  hut  let  us  see 
wh»t  are  the  proper  functions  of  this  inventive 
reason  and  heart. 

What  do  these  faculties  invent  ?  "  he  de¬ 
mands.  “  They  invent,"  such  is  his  reply,  they 
invent  evil,  they  invent  evil  against  Grod,  against 
God  s  commandments,  against  man.  Man  there¬ 
fore,"  he  continues,  is  endowed  with  reason  of 
ceasdess  activity.  But  its  activity  is  always  evil 
and  godless." 

If  this  be  true,  were  it  not  better  a  thousand 
times,  that  we  had  never  been  endowed  with  the 
gift  of  Keason  ?  Who  would  not  rather  he  like 
those  who  want  discourse  of  Keason,  than  to  be 
gifted  with  the  faculty  which,  with  its  ceaseless 
activity,  leads  us  always  astray  ?  Surely  such  a 
gift  cannot  come  from  a  wise  and  benignant  Being, 
but  looks  rather  like  the  curse  of  a  wicked  and 
malignant  fiend. 

This  opposition  to  Keason  on  the  part  of  the 
great  Keformer,  is  not  the  expression  of  a  mo- 
mentaiy  ebullition  of  passion,  or  the  flight  of  a 

♦IB.  Moses.  Welch  1.  876. 


REASON. 


117 


sudden  but  ill-judged  piety,  wbich  escaped  bis 
pen.  It  was,  on  the  contrary,  a  fixed  and  unde¬ 
viating  hostility.  Let  us  see  how  Luther  devel- 
opes  it. 

The  Christian  revelation,''  so  he  teaches, 
“  rejects  clearly  aU  fiesh  and  blood,  that  is,  what 
is  human,  and  aU  human  Keason,  since  these  cer¬ 
tainly  are  not  able  to  lead  us  to  Christ  !  Hence 
these  things  are  undoubtedly  nothing  but  vain 
darkness.  Yet  the  High  Schools,  the  schools  of 
the  devil,  make  a  great  noise,  and  not  only  extol 
the  natural  right  of  Reason,  but  even  hold  it  up 
as  something  good,  useful,  necessary  to  the  know¬ 
ledge  of  Christian  truth.  It  is  clear  that  no  one 
beside  the  High  Schools  have  found  this  out, 
except  it  be  the  devil  himself,  in  order  to  over¬ 
throw  and  obscure  Christian  truth,  which  alas  too 
often  happened."  * 

Thus,  having  established  in  his  own  mind  an 
essential  antagonism  between  the  natural  light  of 
Reason  and  that  of  Revelation,  he  ridicules  the 
idea  that  the  light  of  the  one  can  be  of  any  service 
to  the  other.  He  says  in  the  same  work  : 

With  the  pretty  comparison  that  the  divine 
light  sheds  its  rays  upon  the  natural  light  of  Rea- 
son,  Uke  the  light  of  the  sun  on  a  fine  painting, 


*  Elrohui  Postil.  xL  4S0. 


118 


PROTESTANTISM. 


this  the  Schools  have  introduced  from  the  teaching 
of  heathens  into  Christianity.  The  devil  told 
them  to  say  that.  In  this  manner  God's  word  is 
trampled  under  foot  ;  hut^  when  it  comes  forth, 
it  knocks  all  such  devilish  teachings  to  powder.''  ^ 

In  the  first  instance  we  were  told  that  Eeason 
with  its  ceaseless  activity  always  leads  us  to  evil 
and  godlessness  ;  hence  it  is  worthless  as  a  guide 
or  instrument  in  finding  truth  ;  and  secondly,  we 
are  instructed  that  Keason  is  hostile  to  Christian 
truth,  its  light  is  nothing  hut  vain  darkness,  and 
that  God's  word  knocks  its  devilish  teachings  to 
powder.  If  the  words  of  Dr.  Luther  be  those  of 
truth,  if  his  teachings  be  the  key  of  the  Reforma¬ 
tion,  nothing  can  be  more  pleasing  to  God,  and  no 
duty  is  more  imperative  on  one  who  holds  the 
Protestant  faith,  than  to  endeavor  to  put  out  the 
light  of  Reason,  and  despise  its  dictates.  Indeed 
we  have  the  Dr.  telling  us  so  in  his  famous  and 
classical  Letters  on  the  Galatians. 

“  The  man  of  faith,"  so  says  the  Reformer, 
throttles  Reason,  and  says  to  it :  Reason,  you 
are  a  siUy,  blind  fool.  You  understand  not  a 
Earthing's  worth.  Do  not  cut  up  so  many  pranks 
with  your  bellowing  opposition,  but  shut  up  your 
mouth,  and  hold  your  tongue.  Do  not  pretend  to 


•  Eirohen  Postil,  pt.  099. 


REASON. 


119 


be  the  judge  of  God's  word,  but  quiet  youiself, 
and  hear  what  it  tells  you,  and  bedeve  it.  In 
this  way  the  faithful  smother  the  beast,  which 
the  whole  world  could  not  do,  and,  by  thus  doing, 
they  make  the  most  pleasant  offering  and  sacrifice 
that  can  be  given  to  our  Lord  God." 

The  destruction  of  Reason  is  not  only  the  duty 
of  the  followers  of  this  champion  of  true  Christi¬ 
anity,  but  its  destruction  must  necessarily  precede 
Christian  faith.  He  answers  those  who  hold  that 
Reason  is  one  of  the  necessary  conditions  of  faith, 
in  the  following  manner  : 

Children  on  the  very  account  that  they  have 
not  Reason,  can  and  do  believe  more  perfectly  ; 
since  Reason  goes  straight  against  belief.  We 
ought  therefore  to  let  Reason  slide.  Reason  must 
be  killed  and  buried  in  faith.  You  say  Reason  is 
a  light  to  faith,  that  it  should  enlighten  faith 
where  it  should  go  ;  yes,  in  my  judgment.  Reason 
sheds  light,  like  a  piece  of  dirt  in  a  lantern.  It 
is  Christ's  will  that  if  we  would  enter  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  we  should  become  little  children,  that 
is,  as  children  are  wanting  all  Reason  and  under¬ 
standing,  so  Reason  should  be  destroyed  in  all 
Christians,  otherwise  faith  has  no  place  in  them, 
for  Reason  fights  against  faith."  f 

♦  Walch  ▼.  iii  p.  2044.  t  L.  Ungedr.  Pred.  Bmoo.  p.  10<Jw 


120 


PROTESTANTISM. 


To  be  a  Christian,  according  to  this  Gospel, 
one  has  to  cease  to  be  a  rational  creature,  and 
become  a  ninny.  This  is  indeed  tbe  consecration 
of  the  sovereignty  of  individual  Reason  with  a 
vengeance  !  Such  a  Gospel  would  find  better 
material  to  work  upon,  and  for  its  free  and  full 
development,  among  the  beasts  who  want  discourse 
of  Reason,  than  among  intelligent  beings.  It 
would  find  readier  success  among  baboons,  ourang- 
outangs,  and  other  tribes  of  monkeys,  than  among 
a  thinking  and  a  reasoning  people,  .for  in  the 
monkeys  there  is  no  need  of  the  preparation  worb 
of  the  demolition  of  Reason  to  make  way  for  faith  ; 
this  kind  of  faith  could  take  root  at  once  ! 

Why  in  the  name  of  common  sense  are  we  told 
and  told  again  to  “  read  the  Bible,'"  to  search 
the  Scriptures,"  if  we  are  not  to  use  our  Reason, 
if  the  destruction  of  Reason  is  the  condition  of 
faith  ?  Oh  it  is  a  pity  that  that  most  blessed 
discovery  of  an  old  Latin  Bible  which  Luther 
found  in  Erfurt  Library  "  was  not  read  to  a  better 
purpose  !  Pity  it  did  not  shed  a  brighter  light  in 
the  Reformer's  soul  than  to  teach  him  to  disparage 
and  despise  God's  noblest  gift  to  man, — Reason  ! 

But  listen  once  more  to  this  great  German, 
whose  followers  pretend  that  he  emancipated  the 
human  mind, — Reason  : 


REASON. 


121 


You  must  come  to  this  point,”  he  says,  “or 
it  is  all  over  with  you  ;  you  must  strip  yourselves 
of  Reason  altogether,  and  through  faith  throw  it 
away  ;  it  is  this  word  faith  which  gives  eternal 
life.  Moreover,  he  that  would  hear  the  word  of 
Christ,  let  him  leave  the  Jackass  Reason  at  home, 
and  neither  be  guided,  nor  judge  according  to  Rea¬ 
son  ;  if  he  does  so,  he  irritates  Christ.” 

Is  it  to  he  wondered  at,  when  men  discover 
that  the  only  way  to  religious  belief  is  by  repudi¬ 
ating  Reason,  and  by  trampling  under  foot  its  dic¬ 
tates,  that  they  prefer  to  retain  their  self-respect 
and  reverence  for  Grod,  rather  than  embrace  a  Re¬ 
ligion  which  outrages  both  ?  “  If  Reason  in  its 

most  decisive  judgments  on  Religion,  is  unworthy 
of  trust,  then  Christianity,  even  natural  theology, 
must  be  abandoned  ;  for  the  existence  and  veracity 
of  God,  and  the  divine  original  of  Christianity,  are 
conclusions  of  Reason,  and  must  stand  or  fall  with 
it.  If  revelation  be  at  war  with  this  faculty,  it 
subverts  itself,  for  the  great  question  of  its  truth 
is  left  by  God  to  be  decided  at  the  bar  of  Reason. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark,  how  nearly  the  bigot  and 
the  skeptic  approach.  Both  would  annihilate  our 
confidence  in  our  faculties,  and  both  throw  doubt 
•  and  confusion  over  every  truth.  We  honor  reve- 

•  Ansleg.  Ev.  Johan,  vii.  2160. 


6 


122 


PROTESTANTISM. 


lation  too  highly  to  make  it  the  antagonist  of 
Reason,  or  to  believe  that  it  calls  us  to  renounce 

j 

our  highest  powers/^  * 

But  did  Luther  really  mean  what  we  have 
quoted  from  his  writings  ?  Were  not  these  ex¬ 
pressions  thrown  out  in  the  heat  of  argument^  or 
uttered  in  sport  ?  Did  he  renounce  thus  the 
authority  of  Reason,  and  abandon  himself  to  the 
mercy  of  every  error  and  absurdity  ?  Judge  by 
the  following.  He  says  : 

That  two  and  five  make  seven,  that  I  can 
grasp  with  my  Reason  ;  but  if  it  should  be  told 
me  from  above.  No,  two  and  five  make  eight,  I 
would  believe  it  against  my  Reason  and  feelings. 
The  devibs  sole  occupation  is  to  get  the  Romish 
priests  to  measure  God^s  will  in  his  works  with 
Reason.'^  f 

By  this  we  see  that  the  author  of  the  Refor¬ 
mation  was  not  satisfied  with  setting  aside  Rea¬ 
son  to  make  way  for  what  he  calls  faith  ;  but 
even  would  have  us  believe  what  is  contradictory 
to  the  plainest  dictates  of  Reason.  Yet  the  sup¬ 
position  that  any  thing  can  come  from  above  which 
may  contradict  Reason,  is  simply  absurd.  We 
may  rest  assured  if  any  such  message  comes,  it 
comes  not  down  from  above,  but  up  from  below 

•  Dr.  Channing.  Vol.  8,  p.  66.  t  Klrcli  Post.  xl.  2808. 


REASON. 


123 


A.nd  the  proper  answer  to  one  who  should  oring 
such  a  message  would  he,  ^^Away,  you  black 
imp,  and  return  to  the  father  of  lies  who  sent 
you  !  ” 

Let  us  close  our  account  with  “  the  key  of  the 
Reformation”  by  a  passage  taken  from  his  last 
sermon  at  Wittemberg,  in  which  he  treats  the 
very  point  in  hand,  The  relations  of  human 
Reason  with  Revelation.” 

“  Reason  is  the  devil’s  bride,”  so  says  Dr. 
Luther,  a  pretty  strumpet,  a  cursed  whore,  an 
outcast,  a  public  prostitute,  the  greatest  whore 
of  the  devil  ;  she  should  be  trampled  under  foot 
with  all  her  wisdom,  she  should  be  murdered,  dirt 
should  be  thrown  in  her  face  to  make  her  hateful, 
she  should  be  dragged  through  the  privy,  the 
cursed  whore  with  her  darkness.” 

Is  this,  candid  Reader,  the  language  of  one 
for  whom  we,  and  generations  to  come,  have  to 
be  thankful  ”  ?  f  or  is  it  the  raving  of  a  madman  ? 
Surely  his  co-reformer  Hospinian  was  not  far  out 
of  the  way  when  he  said  :  This  man  Luther  is 
absolutely  mad.”  Or  Zwingle,  another  co-workei 
in  this  pretended  liberation  of  the  human  mind, 
when  he  declared  that  The  devil  has  made  him¬ 
self  master  of  Luther.” 

*  Leip,  Ausg.  xU.  878.  t  Owlyl*. 


124 


PROTESTANTISM. 


If  this  be  the  boasted  emancipation  of  human 
Reason  which  we  have  had  rung  in  our  ears  from 
Dur  earliest  childhood  by  our  fathers,  teachers, 
orators,  school  books,  literature,  press,  and  every 
other  channel  of  communication,  then  have  we 
been  most  grossly  imposed  upon.  Luther  the 
champion  of  Reason  !  Luther  the  Friend  of  Pro¬ 
gress  !  Luther  the  Liberator  of  modern  thought  ! 
Was  there  ever  such  a  shame-faced  imposition 
practised  upon  mankind  ?  Yet  those  who  plume 
themselves  in  being  the  more  enlightened  portion 
of  society,  have  swallowed  it  in  perfect  simplicity  ! 
And  would  have  the  world  believe  too  that  it  is 
under  a  lasting  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  German 
monk  of  Erfurt ! ""  ^ 

It  may  be  said  that  these  opinions  were  those 
of  Luther,  and  not  shared  by  his  co-workers  in  the 
great  Reformation  ?  But  are  we  not  told  that 
Luther  is  the  key  of  the  Reformation  ?  Is  it 
not  then  through  him  we  are  to  find  the  great 
truths  which  shed  so  glorious  a  light  on  the  world  ? 
Certainly.  And  if  we  find  any  difference  in  this 
matter  between  the  key  of  the  Reformation  and 
his  followers,  it  will  be  not  in  opinion,  but  in  lack 
of  the  same  boldness  and  freedom  of  expression. 

The  Theologian  of  the  Reformation,^'  as 


•  Carlyle. 


REASON. 


125 


Melanctlion  was  called,  let  us  into  the  secret  of 
his  opinions  on  this  point  by  showing  an  antipathy 
to  the  very  name  of  Reason.  He  says  :  “  that  it 
was  by  the  gradual  introduction  of  philosophy  in 
religion,  that  the  most  pernicious  word  Reason 
began  to  be  used,”  * 

This  passage  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  con¬ 
vict  Melancthon  of  holding  the  same  opinions  as 
his  master,  had  we  no  other  proofs.  Further  on 
we  shall  take  occasion  to  show  that  not  only 
Melancthon,  Calvin,  etc.,  condemned  Reason  and 
its  exercise,  but  denied  to  man  in  his  present 
state,  even  the  possession  of  the  faculty  of  Reason. 

Leibnitz,  sensible  of  the  discredit  it  would 
throw  upon  the  Protestant  religion  if  it  were  once 
admitted  that  Luther  was  an  enemy  to  Reason, 
endeavors  to  explain  away  his  meaning.  Thus 
Luther  in  his  work,  entitled  The  Slave- Will,” 
says  :  If  it  pleases  thee  that  God  crowns  the 
unworthy,  it  ought  not  to  displease  thee  that  God 
condemns  the  worthy.”  f 

Now  Leibnitz,  in  construing  this  passage,  says : 
“  This  reduced  to  more  moderate  expressions, 
means,  if  you  approve  that  God  gives  eternal 
glory  to  those  who  are  no  better  than  others,  you 

*  Loo.  TheoL  Augs.  1821,  p.  10.  +  Ch.  174 


126 


PROTESTANTISM. 


ought  not  to  disapprove  that  he  abandons  those 
who  are  no  worse  than  others.*"  * 

With  all  due  regard  to  the  intellectual  gifts  of 
Leibnitz,  his  friendly  interference  does  not  save  his 
fellow-countryman  from  shocking  Eeason  and  out¬ 
raging  the  sense  of  justice.  Luther  tells  us  that 
God  crowns  the  unworthy."*  Leibnitz  that  God 
gives  eternal  glory  to  those  who  are  no  better  than 
others."*  Who  are  these  no  better  than  others  ** 
of  which  Leibnitz  speaks  ?  Are  they  worthy  of 
eternal  glory  ?  If  so,  then  his  proposition  is  alto¬ 
gether  dissimilar  to  Luther"s.  Are  they  unwor¬ 
thy  ?  If  so,  then  he  has  not  helped  his  friend 
Luther,  but  only  reiterated  his  statement.  Lu¬ 
ther"  s  second  proposition  is,  that  “  God  condemns 
the  worthy.""  That  of  Leibnitz  is  that  “  God 
abandons  those  no  worse  than  others."*  Who  are 
these  “  no  worse  than  others ""  of  Leibnitz  7  Do 
they  deserve  condemnation  ?  If  so,  then  his  pro¬ 
position  is  contrary  to  Luther"s.  Are  they  not 
deserving  condemnation  ?  Then,  again,  Leibnitz 
does  not  escape  the  charge  any  less  than  Luther, 
of  contradicting  the  dictates  of  Keason  and  vio¬ 
lating  the  principles  of  justice. 

“  Men  may  construe  things  after  fashion, 

Clean  from  the  purpose  of  the  things  themselves.” 


*  Leib.  Opera  *  Conform,  de  la  foi  ayec  raison. 


REASON. 


127 


But  it  would  require  a  greater  philosopher 
even  than  Leibnitz  to  show  that  the  Protestant 
religion  is  not  unfriendly,  hostile,  and  destructive 
of  man’s  Keason. 

If  we  wanted  proof  of  the  unintellectual  char 
acter  of  the  Keformation,  we  have  it  in  the  ac* 

j 

knowledgment  of  the  distinguished  historian  and 
protestant;  Guizot.  In  his  history  of  Civilization 
of  Europe,  he  says,  in  speaking  of  the  religious 
revolution  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,”  that  ‘Gt 
was  ignorant  of  the  true  principles  of  intellectual 
liberty.  It  did  not  elevate  itself  to  the  first  cause, 
nor  descend  to  the  last  consequences  of  its  work 
.  .  .  The  Keformation  did  not  fully  comprehend 
and  receive  its  own  principles  and  effects.” 

Which  means,  in  other  words,  that  Protestant¬ 
ism,  from  the  point  of  view  of  intelligence,  was 
from  its  commencement  a  stupid  affair,  illogical, 
and  an  insult  to  the  common  sense  and  Reason  oi 
mankind. 


*  19  Legos. 


xvin. 


“  Of  this  be  sure, 

Where  freedom  is  not,  there  no  virtue  is; 

If  there  be  none,  this  world  is  all  a  cheat, 

And  the  divine  stability  of  heaven, — 

(That  assured  seat  for  good  men  after  death.  ) 

Is  but  a  transient  cloud,  displayed  so  fair 
To  cherish  virtuous  hope,  but  at  our  need 
Eludes  the  sense,  and  fools  our  honest  faith. 
Vanishing  into  a  lie.”  Caow*. 


^TTHATEVEE.  man  may  be,  take  from  him 
T  T  moral  freedom  and  you  rob  him  of  bis  dignity, 
destroy  bis  conscience,  and  undermine  bis  responsi¬ 
bility  to  God,  bis  duty  to  bimself,  and  to  bis  fellow- 
men.  Deny  to  man  free  will  and  you  lower  bim 
down  in  tbe  scale  of  existence  to  tbe  beasts  wbicb 
perish,  and  make  a  total  wreck  of  tbe  noble  struc¬ 
ture  of  bis  being.  Disinherit  man  of  his  free 
agency,  and  you  make  bim  a  slave  to  some  foreign 


FREE-WILL. 


129 


tyrannical,  or  despotic  power.  You  make  man  a 
machine,  a  thing  without  sense,  nobility,  or 
grandeur. 

But  Protestantism  cannot  surely  he  charged 
justly  with  teaching  doctrines  of  such  degrading 
tendencies.  Did  not  the  Keformation  awaken  the 
sj)irit  of  freedom  throughout  the  world  ?  Were 
not  the  Keformers  stanch  friends  of  human  lib¬ 
erty  ?  Did  not  the  people,  when  Luther  passed 
through  their  streets,  cry  out  to  this  bold  and 
fearless  champion,  Free  us  !  and  did  he  not 
do  it  ?  Did  not  the  Protestant  Religion  give 
auch  a  blow  to  the  chains  which  had  fettered  the 
minds  of  men  for  ages,  that  they  were  shattered 
for  ever  in  pieces  ;  and  thus  man  restored  to  his 
native  dignity  and  heaven-horn  freedom  ?  Can 
any  doubt  exist  in  intelligent  minds  of  the  truth 
of  this  ? 

Let  it  not  weary  our  readers  to  pause  awhile 
here,  and  examine  these  grand  assertions  freely. 
It  is  not  all  gold  that  glitters.  And  as  free  in¬ 
quiry  is  a  part  of  our  birthright,  we  will  use  it. 

Taking  once  more  the  Key  of  the  Reforma¬ 
tion,'^  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  in  our  hands,  let  us 
interrogate  his  writings  concerning  the  tree  will 
of  man. 

Man,'  so  savs  the  Doctor,  “  is  like  a  horse 

6* 


130 


PROTESTANTISM. 


Does  God  leap  into  the  saddle  ?  The  horse  is 

obedient,  accommodates  itself  to  every  movement 

of  the  rider,  and  goes  whither  he  wills  it.  Does 

God  throw  down  the  reins  ?  Then  Satan  leaps 

upon  the  back  of  the  animal,  which  bends,  goes, 

and  submits  to  the  spurs  and  caprices  of  its  new 

rider.  The  will  cannot  choose  its  rider,  and  cam- 

/ 

not  kick  against  the  spur  that  pricks  it.  It  must 
get  on,  and  its  very  docility  is  a  disobedience  and 
a  sin.  The  only  struggle  possible  is  between  the 
two  riders,  God  and  the  Devil,  who  dispute  the 
momentary  possession  of  the  steed.  And  then  is 
fulfilled  the  saying  of  the  Psalmist  :  I  am  be¬ 
come  like  a  beast  of  burden. ’’  *'*' 

In  reading  this  passage  one  is  in  doubt 
whether  to  break  out  in  bursts  of  laughter  at  the 
ridiculousness  and  absurdity  of  such  a  picture  of 
man,  or  to  give  way  to  bursts  of  indignation 
against  doctrines  which  so  utterly  degrade  our 
nature.  If  man  be  the  mere  passive  instrument 
of  God,  or  the  complete  slave  of  the  devil,  as  the 
case  may  be,  and  he  has  no  more  to  say  about  it 
than  a  horse  has  to  say  who  shall  be  his  rider,  then 
what  have  we  left  to  do,  but  despair,  or  live  in 
good  cheer,  and  be  indifferent.  As  to  the  possibility 
of  doing  any  thing  towards  realizing  the  great  end 


•  Op.  Luth.  tom.  11,  p.  1776. 


FREE-WILL. 


131 


of  our  existence, — that  is  out  of  all  question.  For 
this  true  great  man  for  whom  the  whole  world 
and  its  history  was  waiting/'  adds  that  :  ' 

In  spiritual  and  divine  things  which  regard 
salvation,  man  is  like  a  statue  of  salt  such  as*  Lot's 
wife  was  changed  into.  Yes,  man  is  a  stock 
and  a  stone,  a  dead  statue  which  has  no  use  of  its 
eyes,  mouth,  any  of  its  senses,  or  its  heart."  f 

To  talk  after  this  or  that  instinct  of  lib¬ 
erty,"  “  nobility  of  the  soul,"  dignity  of  Human 
Nature,"  and  pretend  to  be  a  Protestant,  a  dis¬ 
ciple  of  Luther,  is  to  throw  overboard  common 
sense,  and  to  proclaim  oneself  fanatically  absurd. 
This  great  man"  is  not  satisfied  with  enunciating 
his  doctrine,  he  employs  illustrations  that  he  may 
be  understood,  and  illustrations  of  his  own  kind 
and  classical  taste. 

Catch  me,  in  the  name  and  strength  of  Free 
Will,  a  flea  or  a  louse,  and  kill  it,"  he  says,  in 
reply  to  Erasmus'  defence  of  Free  Will,  ‘‘  then 
you  will  have  gained  your  cause.  Then  we  will 
come  to  you  and  offer  up  our  prayers  to  this  glea'' 
God  of  Free  Will."  J 

Is  it  not  mockery  to  tell  us  that  man  is  a 
responsible  being,  and  accountable  for  all  his 
actions,  if  this  be  true  ?  Virtue,  self-sacr'fice, 

*  Carlyle.  t  In  Gen.  c.  14.  $  Wit.  Ausg.  Th.  6,  462, 


\ 


132 


PROTESTANTISM 


heroism — these  are  but  empty  sounds.  This 
champion  of  human  liberty  is  not  yet  done. 
Listen  ! 

Before  all/^  he  says,  it  is  necessary  and 
useful  for  the  Christian  to  know  that  Grod  foresees 
nothing  in  a  contingent  manner  ;  hut  he  foresees, 
proposes,  and  acts  from  his  eternal  and  immutable 
will  ;  this  is  the  thunderbolt  which  destroys  and 
overturns  Free  Will  !  Let  those,  then,  who  come 
forward  as  the  champions  of  that  doctrine,  deny 
first  this  thunderbolt.  And  thus  it  follows  irre- 
fragably,  that  every  human  action,  although  it 
seems  to  be  done  in  a  contingent  manner,  and 
subject  to  the  doctrine  of  chances,  is  necessary  and 
irresistible  in  the  order  of  Providence.  Therefore 
it  is  not  Free  Will  but  necessity  which  is  the 
acting  principle  in  us.” 

Can  we  trust  our  eyes,  and  ourselves,  when 
doctrines  such  as  these  are  put  forward  in  an 
intelligent  and  Christian  community  as  the  teach¬ 
ings  of  the  Grospel,  as  evangelical  Christianity  ’ 
They  sound  more  like  the  ravings  of  the  Grand 
Turk  Mahomet,  who  with  his  all-absorbing  Pan¬ 
theism  annihilates  all  human  agency.  Yet  we 
are  told  by  men  who  boast  of  doing  their  own 
thinking,  that  “  Luther  was  the  mighty  man 

•  I)e  Serv.  Arb.  adv.  Eras,  t  iiL  p.  170. 


FREE-WI  LL. 


133 


whose  light  was  to  flame  as  the  beacon  over  long 
centuries  and  epochs  of  the  world  !  * 

Not  satisfied  with  the  denial  of  Free  Will, 
Luther  would  reject  it  were  it  offered  to  him. 

“  As  for  niyself,’’  he  says,  I  confess  that 
were  Free  Will  offered  to  me  I  would  not  accept 
it,  nor  any  other  instrument  that  might  aid  in  my 
salvation.”  f 

One  would  believe  that  according  to  the  light 
of  Protestantism,  the  great  purpose  of  Christianity 
was  to  make  man  an  abject  slave,  and  to  have  him 
hug  the  chains  which  fetter  his  free  limbs. 

The  mild  and  learned  Melancthon  held  the 
same  hostile  opinions,  and  shared  the  same  feel¬ 
ings  of  hatred  against  the  doctrine  of  man's  Free 
Will. 

He  stigmatizes  it  as  ^^an  impious  doctrine, 
introduced  into  Christianity  from  the  Pagans.”  X 

Like  Luther,  he  denies  man's  freedom  in  toto. 
He  says  :  There  is  no  liberty  of  our  will.  All 
that  takes  place  happens  according  to  a  divine 
predestination.''  § 

Melancthon  had  the  hardihood  even  to  assert 
that  “  God  wrought  all  things,  evil  as  well  as 
good  ;  that  God  was  the  author  of  David's  adulte- 

•  Carlyle’s  Heroes.  t  Ibid.  1. 1.  p.  171. 

t  Loc.  TheoL  Aug.  ed.  1821,  p.  10.  §  Loc.  Theol.  Bale,  1521,  p.  85. 


134 


PROTESTANTISM. 


ry,  and  the  treachery  of  J udas,  as  well  as  of  the 
conversion  of  Paul — not  permissively,  but  effectu¬ 
ally  as  his  own  work/^ 

But  in  a  subsequent  edition  of  his  works  he 
combats  this  very  opinion^  and  carefully  abstains 
from  mentioning  that  formerly  it  was  his  own, 

Zwingle  asserts  the  same  detestable  opinions. 
He  says  :  Adultery  and  murder  are  one  and  the 
same  crime,  since  Grod  is  the  author,  mover,  and 
impeller  to  sin.  .  .  .  Grod  impels  the  robber  to  kill 
the  innocent,  even  though  he  is  unprepared  for 
death.^'  f 

As  regards  the  Genevan  Reformer,  Calvin,  he, 
in  numberless  instances,  employs  the  expressions  : 

Man,  at  4ihe  instigation  of  God,  doeth  what  it  is 
unlawful  to  do."^  By  a  mysterious  and  divine 
inspiration,  the  heart  of  man  turneth  to  evil.” 

Man  falleth  because  the  providence  of  God  so 
ordaineth.”  ^ 

Let  one  citation  from  this  coryphaeus  of  pre¬ 
destination  suffice.  He  says :  The  reprobate 
are  inexcusable  though .  they  cannot  avoid  the 
necessity  of  sinning,  and  this  necessity  comes  from 
God.  God  speaks,  but  it  is  in  order  to  render 

♦  Mart.  Chemnitz,  loc.  theol.  edit.  Leyden,  1615,  p.  1, 173. 

+  De  Prov.  p,  865-6.  $  Just.  b.  iv.  c.  18,  §  12;  b,  iii.  c.  23,  $  8. 


FREE-WILL. 


135 


them  more  deaf.  He  offers  to  them  remedies,  hut 
it  is  in  order  that  they  may  not  he  cured.’'* 

Beza  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  God  created  a 
portion  of  men  as  his  instruments,  with  the  intent 
of  working  evil  through  them.”  f 

We  may,  however,  he  told  that  this  is  old 
Protestantism  ;  modern  Protestantism  is  quite 
another  thing.  Not  so  fast,  generous  reader  ;  here 
we  have  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presby¬ 
terian  Church,  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  the  year  of  oUr  Lord  1827,” 
and  it  discourses  in  the  following  strain  on  these 
points  : 

Of  God’s  Eternal  Decree,  c.  hi.,  3.  iii.  By 
the  decree  of  God  for  the  manifestation  of  his  glory 
some  men  and  angels  are  predestinated  unto  ever¬ 
lasting  life,  and  others  foreordained  to  everlasting 
death.”  Sec.  v.  Those  of  mankind  that  are  pre¬ 
destinated  unto  life  God  hath  chosen  in  Christ 
unto  everlasting  glory,  out  of  his  mere  free  grace 
and  love,  without  any  foresight  of  faith  and  good 
works,  or  perseverance  in  either  of  them,  or  any 
other  thing  in  the  creature,  as  conditions,  or  causes 
moving  him  thereto,  and  all  to  the  praise  of  his 
glorious  grace.”  Sec.  viii.  The  rest  of  mankind 
God  was  pleased,  for  the  glory  of  his  sovereign 

•  Inst.  1,  c.  3.  284.  t  Aphor.  xxii. 


136 


PROTESTANTISM. 


power  over  his  creatures,  to  pass  by,  and  ordain 
them  to  dishonor  and  wrath  for  their  sins,  to  the 
praise  of  his  glorious  justice/^ 

It  would  seem  in  reading  what  has  preceded 
that  the  Keformers  and  their  worthy  descendants 
have  endeavored  to  gather  together  in  one  body  all 
the  doctrines  which  could  shock  reason,  and  out¬ 
rage  those  moral  feelings  implanted  in  our  breast 
by  our  Creator,  and  called  them  Christianity, 
Evangelical  Christianity  ! 

Nor  is  the  Church  of  England  behind  her 
sister  Protestant  churches  in  ^‘Evangelical  Chris¬ 
tianity/'  From  the  thirty-nine  Articles  and  the 
Homilies,  and  still  more  from  the  persecution  of 
the  assertors  of  Free  Will  in  England,  it  is  cleai 
that  the  Anglican  Church  held  these  doctrines  till 
the  end  of  the  reign  of  James  I.  In  the  course 
of  this  king's  reign  there  were  sent  Episcopal 
representatives  from  England  and  Scotland  to  the 
great  Protestant  Synod  of  Dort.  There,  in  the 
name  of  their  representative  churches,  they  signed 
that  ‘‘  the  faithful  who  fall  into  atrocious  crimes 
do  not  forfeit  justification,  or  incur  damnation/' 

Does  not  the  seventh  of  the  ‘‘  Articles  of  Re¬ 
ligion"  justify  their  conduct  ?  It  says  : 

“  Predestination  to  life  is  the  everlasting  pur¬ 
pose  of  God,  whereby,  before  the  foundations  of 


FREE-WILL. 


137 


the  world  were  laid,  he  hath  constantly  decreed 
by  his  counsel,  secret  to  us,  to  deliver  from  curse 
and  damnation  those  whom  he  hath  chosen  in 
Christ  out  of  mankind,  and  to  bring  them  to 
Christ  to  everlasting  salvation,  as  vessels  made  to 
honor.'' 

The  Methodists  held  the  same  degrading 
opinions.  Charles  Wesley  shall  be  our  witness. 
He  *  gives  us  the  following  conversation  held  by 
himself  with  one  whom  he  calls  a  pillar  of  the 
Church,  J.  W.,  at  Birmingham." 

Do  you  believe  that  you  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  law  ?  I  have  not.  I  am  not  under  the 
law.  I  live  by  faith.  Have  you,  as  living  by 
faith,  a  right  to  every  thing  in  the  world  ?  I 
have.  All  is  mine  since  Christ  is  mine  !  May 
you  then  take  any  thing  you  will,  any  where  ? 
Suppose,  out  of  a  shop,  without  the  consent  of  the 
owner  ?  I  may  if  I  want  it  ;  for  it  is  mine  ;  only 
I  will  not  give  offence.  Have  you  a  right  to  all 
the  women  in  the  world  ?  Yes,  if  they  consent  ! 
And  is  not  that  sin  ?  Yes,  to  him  that  thinks  it 
a  sin  ;  but  not  to  those  whose  hearts  are  free." 
“  And  Roger  Ball  of  Dublin  afterwards  affirmed 
the  same  thing." 

To  make  man  irresponsible  for  his  actions  is 

*  South«7'8  Life  y.  iL  pu  144 


I 


138 


PROTESTANTISM. 


to  deny  the  freedom  of  the  will.  The  one  goes 
with  the  other.  Alarmed  at  the  resmts  of  his 
preaching,  Wesley  called  a  Conference  of  the 
leading  Methodist  preachers,  and  publicly  confessed 
“  that  they  had  leaned  too  much  to  Calvinism, 
and  also  to  Antinomianism.  The  main  pillar  of 
which  was  that  Christ  had  abolished  the  moral 
law,  that  Christians  are  under  no  obligation  to 
observe  it,  and  that  a  part  of  Christian  liberty 
was  liberty  from  observing  the  commandments  of 
God.’^ 

A  separation  took  place,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  Methodist  clergy  adhered  to  Lady 
Huntingdon's  party,  who  was  the  head  of  the  Cal¬ 
vinists."  f 

That  the  founder  of  Methodism  was  not  behind 
the  early  Reformers  in  his  unnatural  creed,  is 
made  clear  from  a  letter  of  his  to  parents  on  the 
education  of  children.  He  says  :  “  that  in  par¬ 
ticular  they  should  labor  to  convince  them  of 
atheism,  and  show  them  that  they  do  not  know 
God,  love  him,  delight  in  him,  or  enjoy  him,  any 
more  than  do  the  beasts  that  perish."  J 

How  one  so  destitute  of  alb  the  feelings  of  our 
common  humanity  should  be  looked  up  to  as 
almost  an  inspired  teacher  of  him  who  said : 

•  Whitehead,  p.  273.  t  Southey,  p.  179.  J  Southey,  p.  285. 


FEEE-WILL. 


139 


Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven, is  strange,  pass¬ 
ing  strange  ! 

The  same  sentiments  are  taught  to  the  little 
baptized  children  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  our  own  day.  In  the  Sunday-school 
library  of  one  of  the  Chapels  of  Trinity  Church, 
we  found  a  volume  of  “Hymns  for  Children,'' 
containing  the  following  lines  : 

“  Sin  is  the  substance  of  each  thought. 

Each  word,  each  deed  with  sin  is  fraught. 

Tour  little  hearts  are  all  unclean, 

And  quite  the  dwelling-place  of  sin.” 

The  image  of  God  which  each  one  bears  in  his 
soul  consists  chiefly  in  Keason  and  Free-Will ; 
yet  here  is  a  religion  pretending  to  be  God's  re¬ 
ligion,  and  at  the  same  time  would  rob  us  of  his 
image,  dry  up  all  the  generous  impulses  of  the 
soul,  and  stifle  its  noble  aspirations  ;  and  make 
virtue,  devotion,  love,  a  mere  name,  a  phantom  ! 

Such  is  Protestantism  in  theory,  such  is  Pro¬ 
testantism  in  practice.  Listen  to  the  languag 
of  one  who  felt  its  soul-destroying  influence,  and 
therefore  speaks  from  experience.  It  is  a  voice 
from  the  once  Calvinistic  New  England.  i 

“  Too  many  think  religion  a  depressing,  rather 


140 


PROTESTANTISM 


than  an  elevating  service,  that  it  breaks  rather 
than  ennobles  the  spirit,  that  it  teaches  us  to 
cower  before  an  almighty  and  irresistible  Being  ; 
and  I  must  confess,  that  religion,  as  it  has  gener¬ 
ally  been  taught,  is  any  thing  but  an  elevating 
principle.  It  has  been  used  to  scare  the  child, 
and  appal  the  adult.  Men  have  actually  been 
taught  to  glorify  God  by  flattery,  rather  than  by 
becoming  excellent  and  glorious  themselves,  and 
thus  doing  honor  to  their  Maker.  Our  dependence 
on  God  has  been  so  taught,  as  to  extinguish  the 
consciousness  of  our  free  nature  and  moral  power. 
Keligion,  in  one  or  another  form,  has  always  been 
an  engine  for  crushing  the  human  soul.  But  such 
is  not  the  religion  of  Christianity.  If  it  were,  it 
would  deserve  no  respect.  We  are  not,  we  cannot 
be  bound  to  prostrate  ourselves  before  a  deity,  who 
makes  us  abject  and  base.  That  moral  principle 
within  us,  which  calls  us  to  watch  over  and  perfect 
our  souls,  is  an  inspiration  which  no  teaching  can 
supersede  or  abolish.”  * 


*  Dr.  Oh&OBing,  v.  ii.  p.  214. 


XIX. 


ttmsn  |l[atttw. 


“Dlgltnm  erigere  peccas.'’ — Percius. 
To  raise  your  finger  is  to  sin. 


WILLINGLY  we  would  have  stopped  our  in¬ 
vestigation  on  so  unpleasant  a  subject  in  our 
last  chapter,  for  it  is  already  sufficiently  shown,  in 
our  judgment,  that  Protestantism  is  inimical  to 
Peason,  disinherits  man  of  his  liberty,  and  hence 
has  no  claims  on  intelligent  minds,  and  men  who 
respect  themselves.  Yet,  every  body  knows  that 
we  shall  have  it  proclaimed  from  pulpits,  pub¬ 
lished  in  the  papers,  spoken  forth  by  orators,  sung 
by  poets,  and  written  and  rewritten  by  historians 
until  we  are  sickened  at  it,  that  the  Protestant 
Reformation  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  hght,  the 
advocate  of  liberty,  and  the  upholder  of  the  dignity 
of  Human 'Nature. 


( 


142 


PROTESTANTISM. 


To  keep  silence  while  such  falsehoods  are  pro¬ 
claimed  boldly  in  our  streets  and  from  our  house¬ 
tops,  would  be  to  be  recreant  to  the  cause  of  truth. 
The  time  has  come  to  strip  this  religion,  hostile  to 
our  nature,  of  its  garb  of  light,  and  show  its  hidden 
character  to  the  world. 

The  two  foregoing  chapters  must  have  con¬ 
vinced  our  readers,  that  one  of  the  cardinal  doc¬ 
trines  of  Protestantism  is  that  of  the  utter  worth¬ 
lessness  of  Human  Nature.  But  as  this  was  not 
the  precise  point  we  had  then  in  hand,  we  will 
now  devote  a  few  pages  bearing  directly  on  it. 

Sin,"'  so  says  Dr.  Luther,  is  not  an  act  or  a 
phenomenon  of  our  nature  ;  it  is  our  very  nature, 
and  our  whole  being  itself."'  ^ 

If  our  nature  is  in  itself  wholly  depraved,  what 
points  of  contact  can  truth,  goodness,  religion  have 
with  it  ?  How  can  these  touch  or  affect  us  in  any 
manner  ?  How  is  virtue,  religion,  morality  pos¬ 
sible  ?  For, 

“  AU  that  you  can  do,”  says  the  same  Luther, 
begins  in  sin,  remains  in  sin  ;  it  may  appear 
ever  so  good  and  pretty  ;  you  can  do  nothing  but 
sin,  act  as  you  please.”  f  Again, 

“  All  that  is  in  our  will  is  evil,  all  that  is  in 
our  understanding  is  only  error  and  blindness 


*  Aug.  Ausg.  xi  2793. 


t  Walch.  Ausg.  xL  li 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


143 


Therefore,  man  has,  in  regard  to  divine  things, 
nothing  else  than  utter  darkness,  error,  wickedness, 
perverseness,  bad  will,  and  misunderstanding.^"  * 

Melancthon  takes  up  the  same  theme,  and 
ss  ys : 

It  is  sufficient  for  a  Christian  to  know  that 
all  works  of  nature,  all  inclinations  and  endeavors 
of  Human  Nature  are  sins."’  f  Again,  Such  is 
man  that  by  his  natural  strength  he  can  do  no¬ 
thing  but  sin . The  woiks  which  precede 

justification  are  all  the  fruit  of  the  cursed  tree, 
and  although  they  may  be  examples  of  the  most 
beautiful  virtues,  nevertheless  they  are  nothing 
but  deceit  and  lies.""  J 

If  this  be  so,  what  becomes  of  the  bright  ex¬ 
amples  of  virtue  of  the  pagan  world,  as  Aristides, 
Socrates,  Zenocrates,  Lucre tia,  Camillus,  and  a 
thousand  others  ?  Listen  to  ‘‘  the  mild  Melanc-  x 
thon,""  and  he  will  satisfy  your  curiosity. 

Let  it  be  supposed,""  he  says,  that  there 
was  a  certain  constancy  in  Socrates,  and  chastity 
in  Zenocrates,  temperance  in  Zeno,  these  shadows 
of  virtue  dwelt  in  impure  souls,  and  sprang  from 
self-love  and  vanity,  and  ought  not  to  be  held  for 
virtues,  but  looked  upon  as  so  many  vices.""  § 


♦  Walch.  Ausg.  V.  778. 
t  D«  Jiiat. 


t  Loc.  Ooni.  de  peccato,  ed.  1521. 
flbid. 


144 


PROTESTANTISM. 


A  celebrated  writer,  in  speaking  of  the  bane¬ 
ful  effects  of  these  views,  remarks  :  Some  of ^  the 
most  affectionate  tokens  of  God's  love  within  and 
around  us  are  obscured  by  this  gloomy  theology. 
The  glorious  faculties  of  the  soul,  its  high  aspira¬ 
tions,  its  sensibility  to  the  great  and  good  in  char¬ 
acter,  its  sympathy  with  disinterestedness  and 
suffering  virtue,  its  benevolent  and  religious  in¬ 
stincts,  its  thirst  for  a  happiness  not  found  on  earth, 
these  are  overlooked  or  thrown  into  the  shade, 
that  they  may  not  disturb  the  persuasion  of  man's 
natural  corruption.  Ingenuity  is  employed  to  dis¬ 
parage  what  is  interesting  in  the  human  character. 
Whilst  the  bursts  of  passion  in  the  new-born  child 
are  gravely  urged  as  indications  of  a  nature  rooted 
in  corruption,  its  bursts  of  affection,  its  sweet 
smile,  its  innocent  and  irrepressible  joy,  its  loveli¬ 
ness  and  beauty  are  not  listened  to,  though  they 
plead  more  eloquently  its  alliance  with  higher  na¬ 
tures.  .  .  .  Even  the  higher  efforts  of  disinterested 
benevolence,  and  the  most  unaffected  expressions 
of  piety,  if  not  connected  with  what  is  called  the 
‘  true  faith,'  are,  by  the  most  rigid  disciples  of  this 
doctrine  which  I  oppose,  resolved  into  passion  for 
distinction,  or  some  other  working  of  unsanctified 
nature."  * 

Calvin  by  no  means  softens  this  picture  of 

*  Dr.  Ohanning,  vol.  ill.  p.  186. 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


145 


man.  He  passes  the  same  judgment  in  his  Insti¬ 
tutes  on  the  virtues  of  the  ancient  pagans,  and 
one  of  its  chapters  has  for  its  title  the  following 
proposition  :  From  corrupt  Human  Nature  pro¬ 
ceeds  nothing  that  is  not  damnable.^^  f  One  cita¬ 
tion  will  suffice  to  show  the  opinions  of  Calvin  : 

There  remains/^  he  says,  “  this  indubitable 
truth  which  no  artifice  can  shake,  that  the  mind 
of  man  is  so  far  alienated  from  God's  justice,  that 
he  violently  conceives,  desires,  and  strives  after 
nothing  that  is  not  impious,  fallacious,  filthy,  im¬ 
pure  ;  his  heart  is  so  filled  with  poison,  that  it 
breathes  forth  nothing  but  stench."  | 

If  our  nature  be  wholly  had,  desires  nothing, 
and  can  do  nothing,  hut  sin,  of  course  we  cannot 
be  expected  to  desire  the  truth,  to  love  the  good, 
to  crave  religion,  to  reverence  God,  or  to  wish  for 
any  virtue  or  goodness  whatever.  Human  Nature 
and  Religion  are  once  and  for  all  eternally  sepa  ¬ 
rated  and  divorced.  How  they  ever  can  he  united 
again  is  beyond  comprehension.  This  point, 
however,  will  afford  material  for  another  chapter 
of  absurdities.  Let  us  not  anticipate. 

The  Presbyterian  Confession  of  Faith  of  1827, 
Art.  xi.,  speaking  of  the  effects  of  the  fall,  hold? 
the  following  language  : 

Lib.  iii-  614,  §  1-7.  t  Lib.  ii.  c.  8,  p.  98.  X  last  xL  ft  v. 

7 


146 


PROTESTANTISM. 


F rom  the  original  corruption,  whereby  we 
are  utterly  indisposed,  disabled,  or  made  opposite 
.  to  all  good,  wholly  inclined  to  all  evil/"  Again, 
a  xvi.  §  viii.  Of  good  works. — Works  done  by 
unregenerate  men,""  so  runs  the  article,  although 
for  the  matter  of  them,  they  may  be  things  which 
God  commands,  and  of  good  use  both  to  them¬ 
selves  and  others  ;  yet  because  they  proceed  not 
from  a  heart  purified  by  faith  ;  nor  are  done  in  a 
right  manner,  according  to  the  word  ;  nor  to  a 
right  end,  the  glory  of  God  ;  they  are  therefore 
sinful  and  cannot  please  God,  or  make  a  man  meet 
to  receive  grace  from  God.  And  yet,  the  neglect 
of  them  is  more  sinful  and  displeasing  to  God."" 

The  eighth  article  of  the  Anglican  religion  is 
conceived  in  the  same  spirit.  Of  works  before 
justification,  for  that  they  are  not  done  as  God 
hath  willed  and  commanded  them  to  be  done,  we 
doubt  not  but  they  have  the  nature  of  sin."" 

‘‘Works  done  by  unregenerate  men  are  sinful."" 
“  Yet  the  neglect  of  them  is  displeasing  to  God."" 
It  follows,  then,  that  we  displease  God  by  not 
doing  “  sinful  works.""  Such  is  the  manifest  ab¬ 
surdity,  impiety,  and  blasphemy  of  the  purified 
Christianity  taught  by  the  great  “  Gospel  Doctors."" 
The  best  compendium  of  these  wretched  tenets  is 
the  following  : 


HUMAN  NATTRE. 


147 


“  You  shall  and  you  shan’t, 

You  can  and  you  can’t, 

You  will  and  you  won’t, 

You’ll  be  damned  if  you  do, 

You’ll  be  damned  if  you  don’t.” 

But  we  have  not  yet  fully  sounded  the  depths 
of  man’s  depravity  according  to  the  glorious  light 
of  the  Keformation.  Not  content  with  making 
all  our  acts  sinful,  they  attack  our  very  nature, 
substance,  and  essence,  and  deprave  that  also. 
Luther  teaches  that  : 

It  is  in  the  nature  of  man  to  sin  ;  sin  con¬ 
stitutes  the  essence  of  man  ;  man,  as  he  is  horn  of 
his  father  and  mother,  together  with  his  whole 
nature  and  essence,  is  not  only  a  sinner,  hut  sin 
itself.” 

Melancthon,f  and  also  Matthias  Flacius  fol¬ 
lowed  their  master,  Luther,  in  this  mattei.  And 
Mr.  Charles  Wesley,  in  his  sermon,  “  The  way  to 
the  Kingdom,”  says  : 

“  Know  that  thou  art  corrupted  in  every  power, 
in  every  faculty  of  thy  soul,  that  thou  ari  totally 
corrupted  in  every  one  of  these,  all  the  founvlations 
of  being  are  out  of  course.  The  eyes  of  the  under¬ 
standing  are  darkened,  so  that  they  cannot  dis¬ 
cern  God  or  the  things  of  God.” 


*  Qnenstedt  Theo.  part  ii.  p.  134 


t  Loe.  theoL,  p.  19, 


148 


PRO  T  EST  ANT18M. 


Thus  genuine  spirit 

of  Protestantism ;  believing  with  its  founder, 
Luther,  that  the  person,  the  nature,  our  whole 
being  is  corrupted  by  the  fall  of  Adam/^  * 

In  remarking  on  this  wretched  theology,  a 
modern  author  says  :  What  is  most  desolating 
in  this  psychological  system,  is,  that  this  monarch 
of  creation  is  not  permitted  to  raise  himself  from 
the  abyss  into  which  the  fall  of  the  first  man  has 
plunged  him  ;  to  efface  from  his  brow  the  mark 
which  the  avenging  hand  of  the  Creator  has 
stamped  on  it,  to  recover  the  titles  of  his  heavenly 
origin.  More  unhappy  than  the  violet  of  which 
Luther  not  long  since  spoke,  man  knows  himself ; 
he  knows  all  the  happiness  which  he  has  lost,  all 
the  misery  and  ignorance  which  he  retains,  and  the 
inheritance  of  glory  which  has  escaped  him.  A 
few  drops  of  water  will  renew  a  fiower  that  droops 
on  its  stem  ;  but  man  is  doomed  to  debasement ; 
nothing  henceforth  can  vivify  or  restore  him, — ■ 
neither  will,  nor  thought,  nor  deed  ;  for  these 
mental  operations  are  corrupted  like  their  source, 
and  man  sins  even  in  doing  good.  Such  was 
Luther’s  doctrine,  a  doctrine  of  despair,  which 
might  be  understood  in  hell,  where  the  soul,  sur¬ 
prised  in  sin,  cannot  merit ;  but  which,  upon 


Aug.  Ausg.  xi.  p.  875 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


149 


earth,  cleansed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  is  only 
an  outrage  on  the  Deity."'  *  ‘ 

As  one  abyss  calls  unto  a  deeper,  so  does  one 
error  lead  to  a  more  serious  one.  According  to 
the  Protestant  religion,  all  of  man's  thoughts, 
feelings,  actions,  are  depraved  ;  more,  his  very 
nature,  being,  essence,  is  totally  corrupt.  But 
not  content  with  this,  the  Keformers  go  still  fur¬ 
ther,  and  endeavor  to  despoil  man  of  even  the 
faculties  of  his  soul,  and  those  too  the  noblest 
given  to  him  by  his  Creator — Eeason  and  Free- 

wm. 

The  Lutheran  confession  describes  the  image 
of  God  in  man  as  the  natural  capacity  in  man  to 
know  God,  to  fear  Him,  and  to  confide  in  Him.  f 
Man,"  so  Luther  affirms,  lost  by  sin  these 
natural  faculties  ;  he  did  not  remain  in  his  natural 
integrity  as  the  scholastics  dream.”  J 

Thus  does  this  false  religion  mutilate  our 
nature,  and  despoil  man  of  his  noble  and  most 
excellent  powers,  and  reduce  him  to  the  level  of 
the  creatures  which  perish. 

I  say,"  repeats  the  German  Keformer,  that 
the  spiritual  powers  are  not  only  corrupted,  but 
also,  by  sin,  wholly  and  altogether  effaced,  both  in 
men  and  the  devils."  § 

•  Audin’s  Life  of  Luther,  v.  2,  p.  71.  t  Apol.  peocst.  orlg.  $7. 

i  In  Gen.  c.  HI.  §  Werke,  1689,  L  p.  19. 


150 


PROTESTANTISM. 


^‘The  Formulary  of  Concord”  expresses  the 
same  ;  it  says  :  ‘‘  that  man  no  longer  possesses 
even  the  least  spark  of  spiritual  powers.”  * 

Victorinus  Stringel,  a  Protestant,  asserted 
“  that  fallen  man  possesses  at  least  the  faculty, 
the  capacity,  the  aptitude  to  know  God,  and  to 
will  what  is  holy  ;  although  this  faculty  is  com¬ 
pletely  paralyzed,  as  it  were  benumbed,  and  is  not 
susceptible  of  any  spontaneous  exertion.”  f 

But  the  orthodox  party  of  Protestants  con¬ 
demned  him,  and  affirmed  that  even  the  bare 
faculty  of  knowledge  and  will, — that  mere  empty 
form  in  the  soul  of  man  had  been  destroyed. 

“  They  are  to  he  repudiated,”  so  runs  “  the 
Solid  Declaration,”  who  teach  that  man  has  yet 
left  remaining  from  his  original  state  any  thing 
good,  whatever  it  may  he,  or  however  paltry  or 
trifling  it  may  he,  as  for  instance  :  the  capacity  or 
aptitude,  or  any  powers  in  spiritual  things.”  f 
Again  :  ‘‘  The  divine  image  has  been  utterly 
effaced  by  original  sin,  and  thereby  plucked  from 
the  posterity  of  Adam.”  § 

Plank,  a  Protestant,  in  his  History  of  Protest¬ 
antism,  puts  all  doubts  aside,  and  admits  that 
Luther  gave  to  the  assertion  that  man  no  longer 
possesses  any  will  for  good,  so  extensive  a  sense. 


•  p.  629. 

J  Lib.  arb.  §  44,  p.  644 


t  Plank.  V.  Iv.  p.  684. 
S  §  9,  p.  614 


s 


151 


HUMAN  NATURE. 

that  it  would  thence  follow,  that  man,  corrupted 
by  original  sin,  no  longer  possesses  the  power  of 
will,  that  is,  the  faculty  of  will/^  * 

Had  Plank,'"  says  Moehler,  only  added, 
‘  and  no  longer  possesses  the  faculty  of  knowledge 
for  the  superabundance  (for  both  are  included  in 
Liberum  arbitrium)',  he  would  then  have  stated 
with  perfect  accuracy  the  Lutheran  doctrine 
Thus,"  continues  Moehler,  “  according  to  the  Lu¬ 
theran  orthodoxy,  did  man  lose,  through  Adam's 
fall,  the  most  exalted  and  most  subtle  portion  of 
his  spiritual  essence, — the  part  of  his  substance 
kindred  to  divinity, — the  implanted  organ  for 
God,  and  for  divine  things  inherent  in  his  nature  ; 
so  that  after  its  loss,  he  sank  down  into  a  mere 
earthly  power,  having  henceforth  organs  only  for 
the  finite  world,  its  laws,  its  ordinances,  its  rela¬ 
tions.  f 


*  VoL  Vi  p.  716. 


1  27iiib<ctS«ixi,  p.  J41. 


XX. 


“The  soul  once  saved  shall  never  cease  from  bllM, 
Nor  God  lose  that  He  buyeth  with  his  blood. 

She  doth  not  sin.  The  deeds  which  look  like  sin, 
The  flesh  and  the  false  world,  are  all  to  her 
Hallowed  and  glorified.” 


UR  intention  was  not  to  touch  on  this  point, 


\J  but  its  close  connection  with,  or  rather  its 
logical  sequence  from,  what  has  preceded,  and  its 
central  position  in  the  doctrinal  system  of  Protes¬ 
tantism,  have  determined  us  to  devote  a  few  pages 
to  its  consideration. 

“  Without  this  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
alone,”  says  Luther,  the  Holy  Ghost  will  not 
abide  with  us.”  *  All  knowledge  of  the  truth 
will  fall  to  the  ground.”  f  ^Hf  this  doctrine  falh,. 
all  is  over  with  us.”  J 


•  Jea.  Ausg.  v.  228l 


t  Waloh»  Ausg.  vUi. 


t  Tabl*  Talk. 


J  USTIF IC  ATION. 


153 


vVii  must  not  forget  what  we  have  already 
.earned  ; — that  according  to  the  Keligion  of  Prot¬ 
estants,  man  is  wholly  depraved, corrupted 
even  to  the  very  essence  and  core  of  his  being,’’ 
and  has  lost  every  spark  of  his  spiritual  faculties.” 

It  is  a  subject  worthy  of  serious  consideration 
to  every  reflecting  mind,  how  such  a  being  can 
become  good  again,  reconciled  to  God,  and  inherit 
eternal  glory.  How  this  can  he  brought  about, 
consistently  with  Eeason,  every  body  must  he 
curious  to  know.  The  doctrine  concerning  the 
nature  and  operation  of  this  change  is  the  one  on 
which  the  whole  Protestant  religion  is  reared. 

We  must  ascend  to  the  fountain  source  on  a 
point  of  such  importance,  and  once  more  employ 
“  The  key  of  the  Keformation.” 

The  Justification  of  a  Christian,”  says  Hr. 
Luther,  is  not  an  essential  justification,  hut  a 
reputed  one.”  * 

This  has  at  least  in  its  favor  logical  consistency. 
For  it  is  inconceivable  how  a  being  who  is  essen¬ 
tially  corrupt  can  be  essentially  justified.  The 
work  of  justification  must  necessarily  he  not 
essential,  for  there  is  no  solid  foundation,  nothing 
good  for  it  to  be  based  upon.  It  must  he  a 
foreign,  extraneous  justification,  reputed  to  man. 


*  1  c.  6428.  a. 


154 


PROTESTANTISM. 


not  his,  but  as  though  it  were  his  own, — a  sham 
justification.  Luther  explains  : — 

Clirist  has  fulfilled  the  law  for  us,  and  we 
have  only  to  appropriate  this  to  ourselves  by  faith.'"  * 

We  are  again  puzzled  how  one  who  has  not 
left  a  spark  of  spiritual  powers,  can  have  faith  ? 
This  too,  of  course,  must  he  something  wholly  ex¬ 
trinsic.  But  let  this  appropriation  he  made,  it 
does  not  change  the  nature  of  the  one  who  makes 
it.  Luther  says  so  : — 

The  faithful,  on  account  of  the  obedience  of 
Christ,  are  looked  upon  as  just,  although,  by  virtue 
of  corrupt  nature,  they  are  truly  sinners,  and 
remain  such  even  unto  death."  'j'  . 

Man,  therefore,  according  to  the  religious 
principles  of  Protestantism,  is  not  justified  from 
his  sins,  hut  in  them  ;  for  the  faithful  are  truly 
sinners  even  unto  death.""  But  we  are  curious  to 
know  what  happens  beyond  death. 

For  the  difficulty  is  not  less  great  in  the  next 
than  in  this  world,  how  a  being  corrupted  in  its 
very  essence  can  ever  he  made  good,  perfect,  holy. 
Will  Protestants  send  a  depraved,  corrupted,  alto¬ 
gether  sinful  being  to  heaven  to  enjoy  the  presence 
of  God  ?  Yet  how  can  they  escape  doing  this  if 
true  to  their  principles  ?  We  see  not.  Bather 

•  Walch,  Ausg.  X.  1461. 


+  Solid,  declar.  de  flde  815.  p.  65T 


JUSTIFICATION. 


155 


than  give  up  this  essential  doctrine  of  their  re* 
ligionj  they  will  send  a  man  as  black  and  ugly 
as  the  devil  himself  almost,  to  heaven  ! Listen 
to  Martin  the  Keformer. 

It  is  because  of  Christ  that  Christians  are 
called  snow-white,  even  much  purer  than  the  sun, 
the  moon,  and  the  stars.  But  herein  we  must 
pay  great  attention,  that  this  purity  is  not  ours, 
but  extraneous  purity.  •  For  the  Lord  Christ 
adorns  and  clothes  us  with  his  purity  and  justice. 
However,  if  you 'regarded  a  Christian  aside  from 
the  purity  and  justice  of  Christ,  as  he  is  in  him¬ 
self,  you  would  simply  see,  however  holy  he  might 
be,  no  purity  at  all  in  him  ;  you  would  see  him  as 
black  and  ugly  as  the  devil  himself  almost.^" 

If  ever  there  was  a  religion  whose  fundamental 
principle  was  an  unreality,  it  is  the  religion  founded 
by  Luther,  this  bringer  back  of  men  to  reality,”  j* 
as  he  is  called.  If  ever  there  was  a  paradise  of 
shams,  it  is  the  paradise  of  Christians  who  fol¬ 
low  this  true  spiritual  Hero.”  J  The  paradise 
of  Mahomet  is  vastly  more  attractive  than  a 
heaven  composed  of  so-called  Christians  as  black 
and  ugly  as  the  devil  himself  almost.”  We  have 
not,  however,  reached  the  end  of  the  absurdities 
of  the  glorious  Keformation — absurdities  sufficient 

*  Augs.  Ausg.  viii.  p.  548.  t  Carlyle.  }  Ibid. 


156 


PROTESTANTISM. 


to  deprive  any  man  who  would  believe  them 
common  sense. 

Having  put  out  the  light  of  Keason  in  man, 
and  concealed  his  corruption  by  a  cloak,  Luther 
endeavors  now  to  blind  the  Almighty,  whose  eyes 
are  brighter  than  the  sun,  and  who  sees  the  inmost 
recesses  of  our  hearts. 

God  can  see  no  sins  in  us,"^  such  is  his  lan¬ 
guage,  though  we  were  filled  with  sins,  even 
though  we  were  nothing  hut  sin,  within  and  with¬ 
out,  body  and  soul,  from  the  top  of  the  head  to 
the  soles  of  our  feet.  He  sees  only  the  dear, 
costly  blood  of  his  beloved  Son,  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  with  which  we  are  sprinkled.  For  this 
same  blood  is  the  golden  mantle  of  grace,  with 
which  we  are  clothed,  and  in  which  we  appeal 
before  God.  Wherefore  he  cannot,  and  will  not, 
see  us  other  than  were  we  his  beloved  Son  himself, 
full  of  justice,  holiness,  and  innocence.^’ 

Those  who  can  believe  in  such  a  God,  who  can 
accept  such  ’a  redemption,  and  adopt  such  a  re¬ 
ligion,  the  powers  above,  help  them  !  As  for  our¬ 
selves,  it  is  too  enormous  a  tax  on  creduHty. 

The  sinner  is  not  only  uncleansed  from  hh 
sins,  he  is  even  exhorted  by  this  restorer  of  Chris 
tianity  to  continue  in  them. 


*  Augs.  Aasg.  viii.  p.  878. 


JUSTIFICATION. 


157 


Sin  lustily,  but  be  more  lusty  in  faitb,  and 
ejoice  in  Christ,  wbo  is  the  conqueror  of  sin,  of 
death,  and  of  the  world.  Sin  we  must,  so  long  as 
we  remain  here.  It  suffices,  that,  through  the 
riches  of  the  glory  of  God,  we  know  the  Lamb 
which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  !  from 
Him  no  sin  will  sever  us,  though  a  million  times 
a  day  we  should  fornicate,  or  commit  murder.'^  * 
What  must  not  be  the  stupidity  of  those  who 
can  be  made  to  believe  that  the  promulgation  of 
doctrines  such  as  these,  was  the  re-appearance 
of  Christianity  ! that  Protestantism  was  the 
emancipation  of  Reason  !  Reappearance  rather 
of  barbarism,  and  heathendom  !  Emancipation 
of  the  flesh  !  The  Protestant  Reformation 
was  nothing  else  than  the  rebellion  of  the  unregu¬ 
lated  passions  of  man.  under  the  guise  of  the 
emancipation  of  the  human  mind.  That  this  is 
no  unfair  statement  of  the  views  of  Luther,  we 
have  his  own  words  for  it.  Read  his  definition  of 
Christianity. 

Christianity,^"  he  says,  “  is  nothing  else  than 
a  constant  practice  of  this  article  that  you  are  not 
sensible  of  sin,  however  you  may  have  sinned, 
since  your  sins  adhere  to  Christ,  who  is  for  aD 
eternity  a  Saviour  from  sin,  death,  hell.""  f 


*  Epist  to  lo.  Aurifabio,  tom,  1 ;  Jena.  1856,  p.  544 
t  Op.  Lat.  1  c. 


158 


PROTESTANTISM. 


Thus  under  the  garb  of  Christianity  license  is 
given  to  every  excess  of  passion,  and  the  commis¬ 
sion  of  the  worst  of  crimes.  Turks  would  reject 
with  abhorrence  such  a  religion,  and  the  Thugs 
of  India,  though  practising  on  its  principles,  would 
blush  to  avow  them  in  broad  daylight.  How  can 
we  account  for  such  doctrines  unless  we  admit, 
with  Dr.  Johnson,  that  “  to  find  a  substitution  for 
violated  morality,  was  the  leading  feature  in  all 
perversions  of  religion.'" 

Melancthon  and  Galvin  held  like  opinions. 
The  latter  says  : — 

“  The  word  ^  justification  '  signifies  the  de¬ 
claring  one  just,  the  acquitting  him  of  sins,  the 
eternal  justice  of  Christ,  which  is  by  Grod  imputed 
to  faith."  f  Again  :  We  are  accounted  just  in 
Christ,  which  in  ourselves. we  are  not."  J 

This  is  the  same,"  says  Moehler,  “  as  if  any 
one  were  to  purchase  a  very  learned  hook,  and, 
instead  of  stamping  its  contents  deeply  on  his 
mind,  and  in  this  way  appropriating  it,  so  that  he 
might  become  a  living  book,  should  hold  himself 
very  learned,  because  the  learned  book  was  his 
outward  property."  § 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  England 
looks  with  the  same  jealous  eye  on  this  doctrine  as 

•  Boswell’s  Life,  t  Inst.  lib.  iii.  c  11,  §  2,  fol.  260.  t  Ibid.  §  3.  §  21!^ 


JUSTIFICATION. 


159 


“  tlie  strong  Rock  and  foundation  of  the  Christian 
religion  "  In  Art.  XI.  Of  the  Justification 
of  man,”  it  says  : —  , 

Wherefore,  that  we  are  justified  by  Faith 
only,  is  a  most  wholesome  doctrine,  and  very  full 
of  comfort.” 

That  the  founder  of  Methodism  held  this  same 
most  pernicious  doctrine,  and  that  it  was  practised 
on  by  the  early  Methodists  to  an  alarming  and 
horrid  extent,  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  pages. 
And  when  he  was  charged  with  not  preaching  this 
doctrine,  he  refutes  it  by  saying  :  Now,  do  I 
preach  that  we  are  justified  by  faith  and  works  ? 
I  did  for  10  years  :  I  was  fundamentally  a  papist 
and  knew  it  not.  But  I  do  testify  to  all,  that  no 
good  works  can  be  done  before  justification,  none 
which  have  not  in  them  the  nature  of  sin.”  ^ 

“  How  few,”  exclaims  Fletcher,  another  pillar 
of  Methodism,  how  few  of  our  celebrated  pulpits 
are  there,  where  more  has  not  been  said  for  sin 
than  against  it  !  ”  j* 

Sir  Howland  Hill,  another  pillar  of  Methodism, 
maintained  that 

Even  adultery  and  murder  do  not  hurt  the 
pleasant  children,  but  rather  work  for  their  good.”  J 

*  Southey’s  Life.  v.  i.  p.  141. 

t  Check  to  Antinom.  p.  215.  X  Fletcher’s  works,  voh  IIL  p.  60. 


160 


rROTESTANTISM. 


God  sees  no  sin  in  believers/"  says  the  same, 
whatever  sin  they  may  commit.  My  sins  might 
displease  God  ;  my  person  is  always  acceptable  to 
him.  Though  I  should  out-sin  Manasses,  I  should 
not  be  less  a  pleasant  child,  because  God  always 
views  me  in  Christ.  Hence  in  the  midst  of  adul¬ 
teries,  murders,  and  incests,  he  can  address  me 
with  ^  Thou  art  all  fair,  my  dove,  my  undefiled  ; 
there  is  no  spot  in  thee."  Though  I  believe  not 
those  who  say,  ‘  let  us  sin  that  grace  may  abound/ 
adultery,  incest,  and  murder,  shall,  upon  the 
whole,  make  me  holier  on  earth,  and  merrier  in 
heaven."" 

This  may  seem  revolting  to  our  moral  senti¬ 
ments,  and  no  one  can  deny  that  it  is.  And  yet 
there  is  no  escape  from  it  on  Protestant  principles. 
For  once  admit  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity,"" 
and  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone,"" 
the  imputation  of  righteousness,""  and  the  im¬ 
possibility  of  good  works,""  follow  necessarily. 

If  the  modern  professors  of  Protestant  Christi¬ 
anity  pretend  to  escape  these  shocking  doctrines, 
and  their  dreadfully  immoral  issues,  they  may  ; 
but  they  can  only  do  it  by  rejecting  the  funda¬ 
mental  doctrine  of  the  great  Eeformation  ;  or,  by 
stifling  their  Keason,""  as  the  great  lights  of  the 


*  Oheck  to  Antinom.  vol.  iv.  p.  97. 


JUSTIFICATION. 


161 


Reformation  did,  and  sagaciously  recommended 
their  followers  to  do. 

For  Reason  and  Protestantism  cannot  stand 
together.  No  one  was  more  convinced  of  this  fact 
than  the  author  of  the  Reformation  ;  and  it  was 
this  conviction  that  led  him  to  send  Reason  to  the 
wall.  Modern  Protestants,  lacking  the  courage  of 
their  fearless  leader,  escape  taking  this  hold  posi¬ 
tion,  only  by  adopting  a  depraved  logic. 


k 


A.*-L 

\ 

^Mtarianisa. 


“  To  hear 

&uoh  iwangllngs  is  joy  for  vulgar  minds.” — Dxirae. 

STKANGE  as  it  may  seem,  yet  it  is  none  the 
less  true,  that  not  a  few  regard  one  of  the 
most  evident  marks  of  error,  and  the  most  destruc¬ 
tive  feature  of  the  religious  revolution  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  as  a  sign  of  truth,  as  a  proof  of 
progress,  and  a  title  to  their  gratitude.  Were 
this  confined  to  a  few  or  to  vulgar  minds,  it  might 
he  passed  over  in  silence  ;  but  such  is  not  the 
case.  There  are  poets,  historians,  philosophers, 
literary  men,  who  would  have  us  believe  that  the 
endless  discussions  and  subdivisions  into  which 
Protestantism  has  divided  the  religious  world  is  a 
cheering  sign  of  life  and  a  benefit  to  humanity. 


SE  GT  AKIANIS  M. 


163 


The  poet,  out  of  respect  to  his  rank,  shall  first 
give  in  his  evidence  of  this  popular  hallucination  ; 

“  God  sends  his  teachers  unto  every  age, 

To  every  clime,  and  every  race  of  men  ; 

With  revelations  fitted  to  their  growth 

And  shape  of  mind,  nor  gives  the  realms  of  Truth 

Into  the  selfish  rule  of  one  sole  race  : 

Therefore  each  form  of  worship  that  hath  sw»yj4 
The  life  of  man,  and  given  it  to  grasp 
The  master-key  of  knowledge,  reverence. 

Enfolds  some  germs  of  goodness  and  of  right.’** 


The  idea  conveyed  in  these  lines  is  that  God 
parcels  out  the  truth  to  men  as  though  they  had 
not  the  capacity  to  receive  it  in  its  integrity.  All 
men  are  integrally,  constitutionally,  the  same  ; 
each  possessing  all  the  capacities  and  powers  of 
another.  What  one  race  knows  all  races  may 
substantially  know,  and  equally  so  every  man  of 
the  race.  Instead  of  making  God  the  author 
of  wrangling  creeds,  it  would  be  more  in  accord¬ 
ance  with  right  and  honorable  views  of  God,  to 
look  for  their  causes  elsewhere. 

Truth  leads  the  mind  to  take  broader  views  of 
things,  and  gives  to  men  common  sympathies  ;  it 
is  therefore  precisely  the  realm  of  truth  which  men 
have  need  of  to  free  them  from  the  selfish  rule  of 


•  Low«lL 


164 


PROTESTANTISM. 


one  sole  ra'ie.  The  idea  that  man  is  not  endowed 
with  the  capacity  to  receive  the  whole  truth,  or 
that  God  has  not  given  it  to  him,  is  as  unsound 
in  philosophy  as  it  is  false  to  history. 

The  historian  shall  now  give  his  lesson  on  this 
subject : 

Wherever  you  see  men  clustering  together  to 
form  a  party,  you  may,”  he  says,  be  sure  that  how¬ 
ever  much  error  may  be  there,  truth  is  there  also.” 

Had  the  writer  of  the  above  stopped  his  pen 
at  this  point,  he  would  have  remained  inside  the 
boundaries  of  sound  philosophy.  Indeed  he  has 
enunciated  a  great  truth,  and  one  which,  rightly 
understood,  overthrows  completely  the  fundamen¬ 
tal  errors  of  Protestantism. 

For  his  statement  implies  that  the  intellect  of 
man  cannot  operate  without  the  truth.  It  follows 
that  we  must  either  deny  to  man  all  rational, 
intellectual  life,  which  is  abominable  ;  or  we  must 
repudiate  the  hateful  doctrine  of  total  depravity, 
which  implies  that  man  has  lost  aU  hold  on  the 
true. 

But  the  historian  did  not  stop  here  ;  he  con¬ 
tinues,  and  says  : 

“  Apply  this  principle  boldly  ;  for  it  contains 
a  lesson  of  candor  and  a  voice  of  encouragement. 
There  never  was  a  school  of  philosophy,  nor  a  clan 


8ECTAKIANISM. 


165 


( 


in  the  realm  of  opinion,  but  carried  along  with  it 
some  important  truth/"  Mark  now,  ingenuous 
reader,  what  follows  :  And  therefore  every  sect 
that  has  ever  flourished  has  benefited  Humanity  ; 
for  the  errors  of  that  sect  pass  away  and  are  for¬ 
gotten  ;  its  truths  are  received  into  the  common 
inheritance/" 

The  candor  of  this  lesson  we  accept  most  cor- 
,  dially  ;  but  its  voice  sounds  to  our  ears,  not  as  one 
of  encouragement,  but  as  the  saddest  Idnd  of  dis¬ 
couragement.  It  were  indeed  a  sad  and  gloomy 
prospect  for  Humanity,  if  we  had  to  grope  about 
in  darkness  for  the  truth,  and  be  doomed  to 
pick  up  her  scattered  limbs,  and  find  of  these  but 
fragments.  It  is  greatly  to  be  feared  that  the 
discovery  of  the  fair  form  of  truth  would  eventuate 
as  disastrously  as  the  fabled  search  which  Isis  made 
for  the  mangled  body  of  Osiris.  For  truth  is  one, 
and  has  its  source  in  an  eminent  unity,  and  the 
attempt  to  form  the  whole  body  of  Truth  from  its 
scattered  limbs,  would  end  in  producing  a  mass 
of  fragments,  without  unity,  symmetry,  or  a  life- 
.  giving  principle.  The  failure  would  be  as  certain 
as  the  efibrt  to  form  the  sun  by  gathering  together 
its  scattered  beams. 

On  the  supposition  that  God  has  brought  men 


*  Bancroft's  MisceL  p,  416. 


166 


PROTESTANTISM. 


into  darkness,  or  that  man  is  incapable  of  grasping 
the  whole  truth  at  once,  the  smallest  fraction  of 
truth  discovered  is  a  benefit  to  Humanity.  This 
is  not  the  lot  of  man,  and  the  multiplication  of 
sects  must  be  regarded,  not  as  a  means  of  increas¬ 
ing  the  common  inheritance  of  truth,  but  rather 
as  the  decay  and  destruction  of  its  fair  proportions. 

Thomas  Carlyle  tells  us  in  his  usual  odd  way, 
the  same  thing.  All  isms,”  he  says,  have  a 
truth  in  them,  or  men  would  not  take  them  up.” 

Unmixed  error  does  not  exist,  and  if  it  did, 
the  mind  of  man  could  not  take  it  up.  His 
statement  would  be  more  in  accordance  with  truth 
had  he  said  that  all  isms  have  a  most  pernicious 
lie  in  them,  and  no  man  whose  mind  is  not  par¬ 
tially  blinded  or  asleep,  would  take  up  with  any 
of  them,  or  all  put  together.  Man  has  divine 
instincts  which  seek  to  know  the  universal  truth, 
and  crave  for  the  illimitable  good,  and  this  is  the 
reason  why  sects  are  so  unsatisfactory,  and  so 
soon  outlived. 

Some  of  these  advocates  of  sects  go  so  far  as 
to  look  upon  the  divisions  of  Protestantism  as  the 
source  of  its  strength. 

“  The  truth  is,”  says  the  celebrated  Dr.  Chan- 
ning,  “  that  the  divisions  of  Protestantism  go  far 

*  Heroes. 


I 


SECTARIANISM. 


167 

* 

to  constitute  its  strengtli . Protestantism, 

by  being  broken  into  a  great  variety  of  sects,  has 
adapted  itself  to  the  various  modifications  of  Hu¬ 
man  Nature.  Every  sect  has  embodied  religion 
in  a  form  suited  to  a  large  class  of  minds.  It  has 
met  some  want,  answered  to  some  great  principle 
of  the  soul.” 

The  unperverted  religious  sentiment  naturally 
and  powerfully  yearns  after  unity.  He,  therefore, 
who  looks  upon  the  isolation  of  men  in  their  re¬ 
ligious  sympathies  as  an  evidence  of  strength,  is 
like  a  man  who  should  detect  in  the  process  of 
decay  of  bodies,  signs  of  vigorous  life.  There  is 
life  there,  but  it  is  that  of  desolation,  destruc¬ 
tion  and  death.  * 

Consistent  with  right  views  of  Truth  and  of 
Human  Nature,  variety  of  sects  should  be  looked 
upon  not  as  adaptations  to  its  wants,  but  as  the 
marks  of  a  deep-seated  uneasiness  ; 

“  Like  a  sick  wretch 
Who  finds  no  rest  upon  her  down,  but  oft 
Shifting  her  side,  short  respite  seeks  from  pain.”  f 

“  Sects  are  essential  to  freedom  and  progress,” 
says  Hr.  Channing.  Yes  ;  where  error  and  not 
truth  lies  at  the  foundation.  Error  disunites, 


*  Works,  V.  iii.,  p.  273. 


t  Duit^ 


168 


PROTESTANTISM. 


isolates,  and  produces  harsh  discord  ;  while  truth 
brings  men  together  in  bonds  of  common  brother¬ 
hood,  producing  love  and  perfect  unity.  It  is  a 
proof  of  a  secret  and  painful  tyranny  exercised 
over  the  mind,  and  a  mark  of  a  radically  false  re¬ 
ligion,  where  freedom  and  progress  can  only  le 
preserved  by  hostile  sects,  and  by  causing  violeiil 
divisions  among  men.  This  thraldom  accounts  in 
a  great  measure  for  the  constantly  increasing  sects 
in  Protestant  communities  ;  and  explains  why  the 
great  body  of  intelligent  men  stand  aloof,  and  look 
with  indifference,  if  not  contempt,  at  the  countless 
sects  of  the  Protestant  Religion. 

Is  not  the  idea  that  regards  the  multiplication 
of  contradictions  concerning  man^s  most  sacred 
relations  and  solemn  obligations  to  God,  to  himself, 
and  to  his  fellow-man,  as  “  beneficial  to  Humanity,” 
or  “  essential  to  freedom  and  -progress,!’  the  com¬ 
plete  abandonment  of  the  belief  in  Christianity  as 
a  Divine  Religion  ?  Is  it  not  to  insult  our  com¬ 
mon  sense,  outrage  our  moral  feelings,  or  to  sup¬ 
pose  we  have  none  ? 

How  is  it  that  men,  otherwise  intelligent, 
venture  to  put  forth  such  glaringly  false  theories  ? 
They  must  be  in  a  most  unnatural  relation  with 
things,  to  have  recourse  to  such  pitiful  and  con¬ 
tracted  views  to  sustain  their  position.  A  mode- 


SECTARIANISM. 


169 


rately  sound  intellect,  with  the  common  instincts 
of  Humanity,  in  its  better  moments  would  have, 
even  in  spite  of  itself,  opened  its  eyes  to  see  the 
absurdity  of  these  views,  and  made  it  feel  how 
unworthy  they  were  of  God  and  of  Human  Na¬ 
ture.  In  some  such  moment,  Channing  must  have 
penned  the  following  most  energetic  passage  : — 

“  I  am  lost  in  amazement,”  he  exclaims,  at 
the  amount  of  arrogant  folly,  of  self-complacent 
intolerance,  of  almost  incredible  blindness,  to  the 
end  and  essence  of  Christianity,  which  the  history 
of  sects  reveals  .  .  .  On  sects,  and  on  the  spirit 
of  sects,  I  must  be  allowed  to  look  with  grief, 
shame,  pity,- — I  had  almost  said,  with  contempt.^’ 
When  Keligion  fails  to  teach  men  their  true 
relations  with  God,  either  because  it  has  no  fixed 
doctrines,  or  does  not  teach  them  in  such  a  way 
as  to  produce  conviction,  the  intellect  becomes  the 
prey  of  doubt  and  despair,  and  men,  instead  of 
uniting  their  activities  in  one  common  aim,  sepa¬ 
rate,  turn  selfish,  and  are  indifferent  to  their 
future.  Art  degenerates  and  becomes  fragmentary, 
science  lends  itself  to  skepticism,  and  political 
institutions  are  made  the  sport  of  revolutions. 

This  point  demands  development,  but  we  have 
neither  the  space,  nor  leisure,  to  treat  it  as  i+s 


8 


*  Works,  p.  28i. 


170 


PROTESTANTISM. 


importance  requires  ,  the  Header  must  be  satisfied 
with  an  individual  example  of  its  truth,  and  that 
in  the  order  of  art. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  task  to  find  one  whose 
natural  gifts  of  genius  were  superior  to  those  of 
Goethe,  He  was  horn  and  bred  a  Protestant,  and 
is  held  up  to  the  world  by  a  class  of  men  as  one 
who  completed  his  nature  by  a  beautiful  and  har¬ 
monious  development  of  all  his  faculties. 

With  his  surprising  gifts  he  seemed  to  under¬ 
stand,  if  he  did  not  always  appreciate,  the  separate 
and  isolated  views  of  almost  every  sect  and  party. 
But  these  he  never  saw  in  their  kindred  relations 
with  the  whole  body  of  truth.  He  saw  with  a 
wonderful  clearness  the  scattered  rays  of  truth, 
and  is  well  called,  the  many-sided  Goethe  ;  but 
he  failed  to  discover  the  splendid  orb  from  whose 
centre  they  come  forth  and  depend.  He  possessed 
in  an  extraordinary  degree  the  gift  of  throwing 
himself  into  the  state  and  feelings  of  others,  and 
expressing  those  with  fidelity  ;  yet  he  never  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  giving  to  them  unity,  symmetry,  and 
completeness,  in  forming  them  into  a  perfect 
work  of  art.  The  most  artistically  finished  pro¬ 
ductions  of  Goethe  are  imitations  of  the  classics  ; 
his  original  ones  are  fragmentary,  disconnected, 


« 


SECTARIANISM. 


171 


incomplete  ;  for  instance,  Wilhelm  Meister,  and 
Faust. 

Goethe^s  abilities,  breadth  of  mind  and  culture 
have  led  his  admirers  to  suppose  that  the  creations 
of  his  own  genius  were  also  pure  works  of  art,  and 
his  critics,  not  finding  them  such,  fail  to  satisfy 
these  cherished  opinions.  The  admirers  of  Goethe 
condemn  his  critics  for  his  deficiencies. 

These  deficiencies  are  not,  however,  to  oe  at¬ 
tributed  to  his  genius,  but  to  the  discordant  and 
irreconcilable  elements  of  his  religion.  It  is  Ke- 
ligion  that  reveals  to  man  his  inmost  being  and 
its  adequate  expression.  The  image  must  be 
placed  face  to  face  with  the  original  to  bring  out 
its  full  meaning,  value,  and  beauty.  Man  is  God’s 
image,  and  it  is  the  office  of  Keligion  to  teach 
him  his  true  relations  to  God.  But  this  task 
Protestantism  was  unable  to  accomplish,  hence  its 
inadequacy  to  give  unity  and  peace  to  the  mind, 
and  elevate  the  soul  to  a  steady  union  with  the 
first  true,  good,  and  fair,  its  Original. 

How  sensible  Goethe  himself*  was  of  this,  runs 
all  through  the  tragedy  of  Faust,  and  we  select 
the  following  passage  as  but  one  of  its  many  ex¬ 
pressions  : — 


172 


PROTESTANTISM. 


“  Two  souls,  alas  !  are  lodged  in  my  wild  breast, 

Which  evermore  opposing  ways  endeavor, 

The  one  lives  only  on  the  joys  of  time, 

Still  to  the  world  with  clamp-like  organs  clinging ; 

The  other  leaves  this  earthy  dust  and  slime, 

To  fields  of  sainted  sires  up -springing.” 

Deprived  of  the  answers  and  help  of  the  true 
Religion,  he  was  compelled  to  make  one  of  his 
own.  Following  one-sidedly  the  intellect,  he  ex¬ 
cluded  the  sensitive  part  of  man’s  nature,  by 
adopting  the  false  maxim  of  Spinoza,  that  virtue 
was  to  he  practised  without  any  idea  of  reward  or 
merit.  Now  the  appetite  for  the  good  is  no  less 
an  essential  part  of  our  common  nature  than  the 
desire  for  the  true,  or  the  admiration  of  the  beau¬ 
tiful.  To  attempt  to  exclude  it  from  its  legitimate 
action  in  Religion,  or  any  other  sphere  of  life, 
must  needs  end  in  failure.  As  one  extreme  pro¬ 
duces  its  opposite,  so  here,  in  his  practical  life, 
Goethe  sacrificed  his  rational  nature  by  following 
one-sidedly  the  sensitive.  Thus,  in  his  theory  of 
Religion,  he  was  a  purist  ;  in  his  practice,  an 
epicurean. 

Many-sided  ”  Goethe!  We  accept  this 
word  applied  to  him  by  his  admirers,  and  regard 
it  as  the  severest  criticism  that  could  be  made  on 
one  so  highly  gifted  as  he  was,  as  a  thinker,  poet, 


SEC  T  A  RI  ANISM. 


173 


and  religious  man.  It  was  only  by  virtue  of  bis 
various  and  richly-gifted  genius  that  he  escaped 
the  common  fate  of  Protestants  of  becoming  one¬ 
sided.  Had  he  discovered  that  Eeligion  which, 
in  its  transcendent  and  majestic  unity,  embraces 
all  truth,  he  would  have  been  all-sided. 

What  we  hold  to  be  the  truth  in  this  matter 
is  very  simple  and  easily  understood.  Briefly  it 
is  as  follows  : — 

God  has  endowed  all  men  with  the  faculties 
to  know  all  truth  necessary  for  their  happiness 
here  and  eternal  happiness  hereafter.  All  these 
necessary  truths  God  has  not  failed  to  make  known 
to  men,  and  in  such  a  way  that  the  knowledge  of 
them  may  be  easily  gained  by  men  of  the  simples! 
capacity.  Consequently,  if  men  differ  in  regard 
to  these  truths,  it  is  either  because  they  have 
neglected  to  employ  their  faculties,  or  have  not 
employed  them  rightly. 

These  principles  commend  themselves  to  all 
men  who  think  justly,  and  are  agreeable  to  all 
true  and  honorable  ideas  of  God.  At  the  same 
time  they  demolish  altogether  and  conclusively 
the  arguments  of  the  advocates  of  sectarianism, 
and  refute  the  speculations  of  the  philosophers  of 
narrow-mindedness. 


lltsttlls. 


“  8«  after  many  years  in  seeming  free, 

More  closely  fettered  than  at  first  are  we.” 

GOETHa 


SUCH  being  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Protestant  Christianity,  it  is  not  to  be  won¬ 
dered  at  that  a  large  class  of  intelligent  minds 
have  found  it  an  unsatisfactory  Keligion.  Some 
of  this  class  keep  up  an  outward  connection  with 
one  or  the  other  of  its  more  distinguished  sects  foi 
the  sake  of  the  younger  members  of  their  families, 
and  because  it  is  a  part  of  respectability  ;  others 
profess  a  general  belief  in  Christianity,  but  regard 
all  its  distinctive  doctrines  as  mere  matters  of 
opinion.  A  still  larger  share  stand  aloof  from  aU 
forms  and  sects  of  Protestantism,  adopt  in  the 
mean  time  suet  religious  views  as  accord  with  the 


THE  REBULT8. 


175 


truths  of  Reason,  and  look  forward  in  hope  for  a 
Religion  which  shall  welcome  the  highest  aspira¬ 
tions  and  he  commensurate  with  the  deepest  wants 
of  their  nature. 

What  does  excite  our  wonder  is  not  that  intel¬ 
ligent  men  should  detect  and  repudiate  this  anti¬ 
natural  religion  and  spurious  Christianity,  but  that 
they  should  have  suffered  this  degrading  impo¬ 
sition  so  long  in  silence.  For  he  who  would  re¬ 
ceive  genuine  orthodox  Protestantism,  must  begin 
by  stifling  in  his  breast  the  convictions  of  con¬ 
science,  trample  under  foot  his  heaven-horn  free¬ 
dom,  and  put  out  with  his  own  hands  the  light  of 
his  Reason.  A  genuine  Protestant  is  one  who  has 
effaced  from  his  soul  all  vestiges  of  the  Divine 
image  of  his  Maker,  and  that  in  the  name  of 
Religion  ! 

This  is  no  exaggeration,  but  sacred  truth,  and 
truth  acknowledged  and  felt  to  he  so  by  them¬ 
selves. 

“  The  natural  movements  of  the  soul  are  re¬ 
pressed,'"  says  one  who  knew  from  experience  the 
effects  of  orthodox  Protestant  preaching  ;  the 
grace,  and  ornament,  and  innocent  exhilarations  of 
life  frowned  upon  ;  and  a  gloomy,  repulsive  re¬ 
ligion  is  cultivated,  which,  by  way  of  compensation 
for  its  privations,  claims  a  monopoly  of  God's 


176 


PROTESTANTISM. 


favor,  abandoning  all  to  his  wrath  who  will  not 
assume  its  own  sad  livery  and  echo  its  own  sepul¬ 
chral  tones.  Through  such  exhibitions  Behgion 
has  lost  its  honor ;  and  though  the  most  ennobling 
of  all  sentiments,  dilating  the  soul  with  vast 
thoughts  and  unbounded  hope,  has  been  thought 
to  contract  and  degrade  it.’'  * 

Speaking  of  the  prevailing  theology  of  his  time, 
and  its  mournful  effects,  he  says  :  I  know  that  it 
spreads  over  minds  an  unsupportable  gloom,  that 
it  generates  a  spirit  of  bondage  and  fear,  that  it 
chills  the  best  affections,  that  it  represses  virtuous 
efforts,  that  it  sometimes  shakes  the  throne  of 
reason.  On  susceptible  minds  the  influence  of 
this  system  is  always  to  he  dreaded.  If  it  he  be¬ 
lieved,  I  think  there  is  ground  for  despondency 
bordering  on  insanity.  If  I,  and  my  beloved 
friends,  and  my  whole  race,  have  come  from  the 
hand  of  our  Creator  wholly  depraved,  irresistibly 
prepense  to  all  evil  and  averse  to  all  good — if  only 
a  portion  are  chosen  to  escape  from  this  miserable 
state,  and  if  the  rest  are  to  he  consigned  by  the 
Being  who  gave  us  our  depraved  and  wretched 
nature,  to  endless  torments  in  unextinguishable 
flames,' — then,  too,  I  think  that  nothing  remains 


•  Dr.  Oliaimliig’s  Works,  viii.  p.  26T. 


THE  RESULTS. 


177 


but  to  mourn  in  anguish  of  heart ;  then  existence 

is  a  curse, — the  Creator  is - 

0  my  merciful  Father  !  I  cannot  speak  of 
Thee  in  the  language  which  this  system  would 
suggest.  No  !  Thou  hast  been  too  kind  to  me  to 
deserve  this  reproach  from  my  lips.  Thou  hast 
created  me  to  he  happy  ;  Thou  callest  me  to  vir¬ 
tue  and  piety,  because  in  these  consists  my  felicity  ; 
and  Thou  wilt  demand  nothing  from  me  but  what 
Thou  givest  me  ability  to  perform."^  * 

To  expose  the  character  of  this  Keligion,  hostile  . 
to  man’s  nature,  and  which  cloaked  itself  with  the 
garb  of  Evangelical  Christianity  ;  and  to  induce 
men  to  throw  off  its  awfully  oppressive  and  de¬ 
grading  servitude,  by  exciting  in  them  the  moral 
sense,  by  stimulating  the  consciousness  of  their 
manhood,  and  by  exalting  the  dignity  of  man, 
this  was  the  task  of  Dr.  C banning.  His  mission, 
therefore,,  was  a  great,  good,  and  noble  one  ;  and 
nobly  he  performed  it. 

Another  distinguished  writer,  speaking  from 
the  effects  of  this  cruel  and  most  unnatural  Ee- 
ligion  on  childhood,  says  : 

Accept  the  injurious  propositions  of  our  early 
catechetical  instructions,  and  even  honesty  and 
sell-denial  were  but  splendid  sins,  if  they  did  not 

*  Dr.  Channing's  Works,  p.  35d. 


8* 


178 


PROTESTANTISM. 


wear  the  Christian  name.  One  would  rather  be  a 
Pagan,  suckled  in  a  creed  outworn,  than  to  be  de¬ 
frauded  of  his  manly  right  in  coming  into  nature, 
and  finding  not  names  and  places,  not  land  and 
professions,  but  even  virtue  and  truth,  foreclosed 
and  monopolized.  You  shall  not  be  a  man  even. 
You  shall  not  own  the  world.  You  shall  not  dare 
to  live  after  the  Infinite  Law  that  is  in  vou, 
and  in  company  with  the  Infinite  Beauty  which 
heaven  and  the  earth  reflects  to  you  in  all  lovely 
forms  ;  but  you  must  subordinate  your  nature  to 
Christ's  nature  ;  you  must  accept  our  interpreta¬ 
tion,  and  take  his  portrait  as  the  vulgar  draw  it."  * 

Such  being  the  influence  of  the  prevailing 
forms  of  Protestantism,  we  are  not  surprised  that 
Mr.  Emerson,  in  his  earlier  writings,  is  not  weary 
in  insisting  upon  “  Self-reliance,"  Be  true  to 
thyself,"  Act  out  thyself,"  and  maxims  of  like 
import  ;  for  by  following  these,  men  would  escape 
the  injurious  impositions  of  their  early  cate¬ 
chetical  instructions."  This  is  no  small  gain  and 
relief. 

Mr.  Emerson's  appeals  are  the  voice  of  an  out¬ 
raged  conscience  and  an  oppressed  Keason,  claim¬ 
ing  their  rights  and  freedom  in  tones  of  manly  sin¬ 
cerity  and  courage.  This  attitude  excites  admira* 


*  Emerson. 


THE  BBSULTS. 


179 


tion,  and  in  view  of  the  wretched  tenets  he  was 
taught  to  believe  in  his  early  childhood,  one  may 
easily  overlook  the  one-sided  views,  and  the  exag¬ 
gerations  uttered  in  protest  against  them.  Certain 
passages  in  his  writings  shock  all  well-regulated 
and  genuine  religious  feeling  ;  hut  indulgence  may 
even  he  extended  here,  for  these  are  only  counter¬ 
statements  of  greater  indignities  offered  to  God  hy 
a  false  Christianity.  .  Honor  is  due  to  his  holdly 
upholding  the  worth  and  dignity  of  man  ;  yet  it  is 
equally  a  subject  of  deep  regret,  that  perversion  of 
his  splendid  abilities  'to  the  circulation  of  the 
abominable  theories  of  the  German  Pantheistical 
atheists.  Our  theism,''  he  says,  ‘‘  is  the  purifica¬ 
tion  of  the  human  mind."  Keligion  is  nothing 
else  than  the  pious  ejaculation  of  a  few  imaginative 
men  ;  "  these,  and  numerous  other  instances,  both 
of  poetry  and  prose,  are  nothing  else  than  a  vain 
repetition  of  the  malignant  doctrines  of  Fichte, 
Hegel,  Feuerbach,  Proudhon,  and  men  of  this 
stamp.  Doctrines,  too,  thank  Heaven,  which  will 
never  take  root  on  the  virgin  soil  of  America.  That 
voice  of  nature  to  which  he  so  often  appeals, 
would,  if  listened  to,  shudder  at  even  their  sugges¬ 
tion.  Justly,  then,  in  this  regard,  we  may  retort 
on  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  his  own  appeal:  Be 
true  to  thyself,"  and  Reason  will  teach  thee  that 


180 


PROTESTANTISM. 


it  is  unworthy  as  well  as  undignified  to  insult  the 
common  belief  of  ages,  and  shock  man^s  holiest 
affections.  How  systematically  and  sadly  must 
that  man’s  intellectual  and  moral  faculties  he  per¬ 
verted,  who  can  look  upon  the  Great  Omniscient 
God  as  only  the  intuition  of  himself,  and  the  Holy 
and  Eternal  Truths  of  Keligion  as  the  simple  un¬ 
folding  of  human  nature  !  What  a  twist  in  the 
faculties,  what  a  distortion  of  the  natural  channels 
of  thought,  for  one  to  take  the  shadow  for  the  sub¬ 
stance  !  the  picture  for  the  original ! 

These  extravagant  efforts  to  magnify  man,  are 
only  the  natural  rebound  from  the  opposite  ex¬ 
treme  of  his  excessive  debasement.  The  genuine 
and  more  truthful  efforts  of  Mr.  Emerson,  them 
true  Keligion  must  look  upon  with  a  friendly  eye, 
for  they  go  to  create  a  basis  for  a  future  belief. 

Yes  !  the  basis  of  a  future  belief ;  for  after  you 
have  gained  self-reliance,  and  trust  in  the  dictates 
of  Reason,  what  have  you  then  ?  Religion  ?  By 
no  means.  You  have  the  foundation  for  Religion 
to  work  upon,  the  instruments  needed  for  its  dis¬ 
covery,  hut  you  have  not  yet  Religion.  You  are  in 
possession  of  those  elements  without  which  ah 
genuine  Religion  is  impossible  ;  hut  it  remains  yet 
for  you  to  find  that  Religion  which  is  in  harmony 
with  these,  which  accords  with  your  mental  and 


THE  RESULTS. 


181 


moral  constitution.  For,  that  nature  aoes  not  suf¬ 
fice  nature,  itself  testifies^  as  we  learned  in  the 
foregoing  chapters. 

True  Eeligion,  then,  sympathizes,  and  cannot 
but  sympathize,  with  all  those  who  indignantly  re¬ 
ject  as  false  a  Eeligion  which,  while  it  with  one 
breath  proclaims  the  right  of  private  judgment, 
denies  to  man,  with  the  next,  the  faculty  of 
Eeason  ;  while  it  cries  out  liberty,  refuses  to  man 
Free-will ;  while  it  professes  to  have  been  the 
friend  of  progress,  the  means  of  elevating  man¬ 
kind,  declares  him  essentially  and  wholly  de¬ 
praved  ;  while  it  plumes  itself  as  being  a  purified 
Gospel,  publicly  proclaims  that  man  is  not  called 
upon  to  keep  God's  holy  law  !  The  rejection  of 
such  a  Eeligion  is  the  assertion  of  Eeason,  Free¬ 
will,  the  worth  of  Human  Nature,  the  supremacy 
of  Virtue  ;  and  is  not  this  a  preparation  for  gen¬ 
uine  Eeligion,  true  Christianity  ?  Not  to  repu¬ 
diate  such  a  creed,  is  an  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
its  debasing  tenets,  an  evidence  of  the  want  of 
Eeason,  Freedom,  Virtue,  and  every  quality  that 
helps  to  make  a  man. 

Men  are  throwing  off  the  fetters  with  which 
this  spurious  Eeligion  has  hound  them. 

“  The  creed  of  the  Puritans,"  says  the  same 
author,  is  passing  away,  and  worse  arise  in  its 


182 


PBOTESTANTISM. 


room.  I  think  no  man  can  go  with  his  thoughts 
about  him,  into  one  of  our  churches,  without  feel¬ 
ing,  that  what  hold  the  public  worship  had  on 
men  is  gone,  or  going.  It  has  lost  its  grasp  on 
the  affections  of  the  good  and  the  fear  of  the  had. 
In  the  country  neighborhoods,  half  parishes  are 
signing  off, — to  use  the  local  term  ;  for  the  mo¬ 
tive  that  holds  the  last  there,  is  now  only  a  hope 
and  a  waiting.” 

The  only  way  that  Protestantism  can  hold 
any  ground,  is  by  overswaying  the  mind  in  early 
childhood  by  its  gloomy  fears  and  merciless  threats. 
No  man  of  mature  intelligence  embraces  it,  for 
there  is  no  point  of  agreement  between  them. 
Protestantism  lives  in  discord,  and  can  progress 
only  at  the  sacrifice  of  intelligence,  manly  virtue, 
and  true  freedom.  Hence  the  youth  who  have 
escaped  from  its  restraints  have  no  affection  for  it, 
and  the  older  folks  have  lost  all  interest  in  its 
success. 

“The  Church,”  continues  the  same  author, 
“  or  the  religious  party,  is  falhng  from  the  Church 
nominal,  and  is  appearing  in  temperance  and  non- 
resistance  societies,  in  movements  of  abolitionists 
and  socialists,  and  in  very  significant  assemblies, 
called  Sabbath  and  Bible  conventions.”  *  To 
complete  his  picture  up  to  the  present,  he  would 


*  Lecture  p.  14L 


THE  RESULTS. 


183 


have  added,  and  in  circles  of  table-tippings,  rap¬ 
ping  mediums,  and  free-lovers. 

If  more  evidence  were  needed  of  the  wretched 
failure  of  Protestant  Christianity  in  this  country, 
we  would  refer  the  reader  to  a  remarkable  report 
of  five  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishops  on  a  memo¬ 
rial  addressed  to  their  body  by  some  of  its  most 
distinguished  ministers  and  laymen,  which  “  pro¬ 
ceeds  on  the  assumption  that  the  Episcopal  Church 
confined  to  the  exercise  of  her  present  system,  is 
not  adequate  to  do  the  work  of  the  Lord  in  this 
land  and  in  this  age/'’  *'•'  Among  communications 
from  their  own  members  there  are  a  few  from 
eminent  clergymen  of  different  names/^  We 
give  a  specimen  from  one  entitled,  “From  a  Bap¬ 
tist  divine  : 

“  The  present  state  of  the  Christian  Church, 
and  its  relation  to  the  world,  is  anomalous  and 
almost  shocking  to  a  Christian.  Especially  is  this 
the  case  in  this  country.  Here  is  no  persecution  ; 
the  Word  of  God  is  open  ;  ministers  more  numer¬ 
ous  than  in  any  Protestant  country,  and  working 
ministers  than  in  any  papal  country,  I  presume. 
There  is  nothing  visible  to  prevent  the  universal 
dominion  of  Christianity,  and  what  is  the  result  ? 
The  number  of  professors  of  religion  is  diminishing 
in  all  our  sects.  The  churches  are  coming  to  a 


Memorial  Fapera,  185T,  p.  AflL 


1S4 


PiOTESTAXTIaM 


f:-r  vazii  sf  miiiirre-rs.  There  is  hardjr  i 

* 

.^i^T>L-T5~»Ti  c-tterrahie  Iterw'eeik  Chnrdazi*  aiid 
oiher  iiien  ir  j-xaciSce,  ec-  'hj  se  aH  the  f:-rzi5  cS 
trorlTiiiess  axe  The  h^^iiscdeiicse  gT 

Chiieiiaria,  in  t-x*  lar^  a  r  r:*p:-ni>ii  of  caeee,  is 
Itri-  '*'  ihe  sTorage  <r  men  ■a'he  isTc-  no  guile  l^t 
narcnal  c-r-nscieaoe.  Lei  a  ease  arise  in  "which 
Chiifrians  ani  e-iher  men  c-ome  into  oomacn  and 


meniimz. 
aLTinz.  H 


ihe  Chrirrian  will  do  ihings  whim  an  honorahle 
wc^nli  deisjdse.  To  ask  an  honerahie  no 

p»rofeseion  to  i:*e  c-onTen^i.  meaning  iha i  he  ^onid 
l«e  mnh  a  man  as  manT  whim  he  sees  i-niesain^ 

•  w 

CnmrnaniiT.  w-onid  lx.  meinenidr,  hardbr  less  ir^an 
Henx  inhieeiiT  ahonnds  and  waxes 
znanirr  is  raihm  sh^^nnz  ixseii  out 
iLe  Chnrc-h  than  in  rL  Men  care  more  fer  ih^ 
political  ptardes  lioan  fc-r  the  p'rejcep^  <jf  Chiirn 
and  'On  ererx  ptohneal  qiieiSiiom  in  Oongre^  and 
oat  of  it,  Se-orihce  -one  to  the  -oiher. 

“  This  is  ahnomiaL  ChrisT  his  anosiifss 
nerer  e'oniemtlaiejd  it.  In  Twenir  or  ihirrr  Teas, 
at  the  present  rate  of  diminutinL  the  can-llestii-k 
win  he  remoTod  om  <jf  its  place.  ....  The 
Church  has  no  oonTeraons,  and  no  held  on  the 
mases.  Ine  in':*?!  sticoesEful  chnrcn  Iniidins  i» 
that  whien  excitideis  the  po:*r  hr  nexastr."  ... 
His  cimmrmicatiiin  ends  with  the  frank  atknow- 


T  HE  RESULTS. 


185 


ledgment  of  the  feet  that,  ‘‘  If  what  we  see  is  all 
Christianity  can  do,  it  is  a  feilnre.”  * 

What  has  poweifnlly  accelerated  the  downfeU 
of  Protestantism  in  this  country,  is  the  anta^nism 
which  exists  between  it  and  the  spirit  of  onr  insti¬ 
tutions.  The  foundations  of  our  political  fahriL 
do  not  snpj>ose  Beas^jn  imbecile,  nor  human  will 
enslaved  ;  they  rest  on  the  maxim  of  man's  capa¬ 
bility  of  self-government,  and  this  presupposes  the 
possession  and  exercise  of  Reas^3n  and  Free  Will 
The  free  institutions  of  the  United  States  are  not 
based  on  man's  essential  depravity,  but  on  his 
essential  go'jdness  ;  not  on  the  mistrust  of  Hu¬ 
man  Nature,  but  on  confidence  in  its  inborn  facul¬ 
ties  and  natural  instincts  ; — so  fer  is  that  fiom 
truth  which  some  Protestant  divines  would  have 
us  believe,  that  “  our  political  institutions  are 
based  on  too  favorable  an  opinion  of  human  na¬ 
ture,  and  therefore,  unsustained  by  Christianity 
they  must  falL”  f  It  is  precisely  the  opposite 
that  is  true.  It  is  their  wretched  views  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  and  Human  Nature  that  are  going,  and  in  a 
great  measure  already  have  gone,  by  the  board. 
For  the  natural  operation  of  free  American  insti¬ 
tutions  is  to  cast  off  a  religion  which  takes  Pro¬ 
testant  views  of  Human  Nature,  as  hostile  to  the 
principles  and  genius  of  its  civilizatiou 

•  Mimorial  p.  -fiT-S-f. 


t  Dr.  H»-wk 


186 


PROTESTANTISM. 


Leaving  now  onr  own  shores  for  awhile,  let  us 
look  abroad  where  Protestantism  is  of  an  older 
growth,  that  we  may  become  better  acquainted 
with  its  ultimate  results. 

‘‘  Will  it  never  he  understood,”  asks  a  modern 
F rench  writer,  ‘‘  since  the  day  of  Luther  there  is 
no  more  confession  of  faith,  no  more  catechism 
possible  ?  Christianity  is  nothing  more  than  the 
vision  of  humanity,  as  it  has  been  exposed  by  each 
in  his  turn,  from  Kant,  Schelling,  Hegel,  Strauss, 
and  in  the  last  place  by  F euerhach.  This  is  the 
glory  of  the  Keformation.  It  has  in  this  respect 
merited  well  of  humanity,  and  is  undertaking 
again  the  work  of  Christ,  which  was  already  be¬ 
trayed  at  the  Council  of  Nice.  It  surpasses  that 
of  its  author. 

“  It  was  in  vain  that  efforts  were  made  by  the 
most  unanimous  and  most  solemn  declarations,  to 
give  a  body  to  Protestant  ideas  ;  it  was  not  pos¬ 
sible  in  the  name  of  the  critical  faculty  to  bind 
the  critic  ;  negation  was  forced  to  continue  in¬ 
finitely,  and  all  that  was  done  to  assert  it  was 
condemned  beforehand  as  derogatory  to  principle, 
as  an  usurpation  of  the  rights  of  posterity,  as  a 
retrograde  movement. 

“  So  the  more  years  rolled  on  the  more  theo¬ 
logians  divided  among  themselves,  the  more 
churches  were  multiplied.  And  it  was  precisely 


THE  RESULTS. 


187 


in  this  that  the  force  and  the  truth  of  the  Kefor- 
mation  consisted  ;  in  this  was  its  legitimacy,  its 

power  of  the  future . The  Keformation  was 

the  fermentation  of  dissolution . After  Lu¬ 

ther  a  theology  was  a  contradiction. 

“  Without  doubt  it  was  repugnant  to  the 
religious  conscience,  moved  hy  the  accents  of 
Luther,  the  most  religious  man  of  his  age,  to 
acknowledge  itself  anti-Christian  and  atheistical, 
and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  after  Luther,  and 
even  to  the  present,  there  is  so  great  a  religious 
effervescence.  ...  For  humanity  does  not  deduce 
with  great  promptitude  its  ideas,  nor  make  great 
jumps. 

But  what  is  certain,  is  that  the  philosophical, 
political,  and  religious  movement  of  four  centuries, 
in  an  evident  inverse  sense,  was  a  symptom,  not  of 
creation,  but  of  dissolution.^^  ^ 

This  is  not  mere  theory  or  speculation.  One 
has  only  to  open  his  eyes  and  see  what  passes 
around  him.  The  Protestant  of  London  contra¬ 
dicts  the  Protestant  of  Berlin  ;  the  Protestant  of 
Berlin  contradicts  the  Protestant  of  New  York  ; 
the  Protestant  of  New  York  contradicts  the  Pro¬ 
testant  of  Charleston  ;  the  Protestant  of  Charles¬ 
ton  contradicts  the  Protestant  of  Amsterdam  ; 
the  Protestant  of  Amsterdam  contradicts  the 


*  Proudhon  sur  la  Socialisme. 


188 


PROTESTANTISM. 


Protestant  of  Wurtemberg  ;  the  Protestant  of 
Wurtemberg  contradicts  the  Protestant  of  Grene- 
va,  and  thus  you  may  proceed  from  nation  to  na¬ 
tion,  from  city  to  city,  from  town  to  town,  from 
village  to  village,  from  one  individual  Protestant 
to  another  individual  Protestant,  and  even  from 
the  same  individual  in  the  morning  to  the  same 
individual  at  night,  and  to  sum  up  all  their 
contradictions,  we  have  remaining  as  the  answer, 
— nothing.  Bayle,  long  ago,  gave  a  true  Protest¬ 
ant  answer  to  Cardinal  Polignac,  when  asked  his 
religion.  I  am,""  said  he,  a  Protestant  in  the 
full  force  of  the  word,  for  I  protest  against  aU 
truth."’ 

Let  us,  before  concluding,  cast  a  glance  at  the 
fruits  of  Protestantism  on  its  own  native  soil, 
Grermany. 

Luther,  that  powerful  sapper,  with  his  for¬ 
midable  hatchet,  had  to  proceed  to  clear  the 
way  for  the  champions  of  philosophy — Leibnitz, 
Kant,  Fichte,  Schelling,  Hegel.  The  Reformer 
was  the  point  of  departure  of  German  philos 
ophy."" 

We  have  only  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  chapter 
on  “  German  philosophy""  to  appreciate  the  logical 
consequence  of  Protestant  Germany  ;  but  lest  we 


*  Heine  the  poet. 


THE  RESULTS. 


189 


should  pass  over  too  slightly  a  point  of  such  im¬ 
portance  we  will  add  a  few  words  here  which  have 
a  closer  hearing  on  the  religious  development  of  that 
mighty  impulse  given  to  the  world  three  centu¬ 
ries  ago.” 

“  It  is  only  the  believing  unbelief  of  modern 
times/'  says  a  Protestant  German  writer,  in  de¬ 
scribing  Protestant  Germany,  which  hides  itself 
behind  the  Bible,  and  opposes  the  Biblical  dicta 
to  dogmatic  definitions,  in  order  that  it  may  set 
itself  free  from  the  limits  of  dogma  by  arbitrary 
exegesis.  But  faith  has  already  disappeared,  when 
the  determinate  tenets  of  faith  are  felt  as  limita¬ 
tions.  It  is  only  religious  indifference  under  the 
appearance  of  religion,  that  makes  the  Bible, 
which  in  its  nature  and  origin  is  indefinite,  a 
standard  of  faith,  and  under  the  pretext  of  believ¬ 
ing  only  the  essential,  retains  nothing  which  de¬ 
serves  the  name  of  faith  ;  for  example,  substituting 
for  the  distinctly  characterized  Son  of  God,  the 
vague,  negative  definition  of  a  sinless  man,  who 
can  claim  to  be  the  son  of  God  in  a  sense  appli¬ 
cable  to  no  other  being, — in  a  word,  of  a  man  whom 
one  may  not  trust  oneself  to  call  either  a  man  or  a 
God.  But  that  it  is  merelv  indifference  which 
makes  a  hiding  place  for  itself  behind  the  Bible  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  even  what  stands  in  the 


190 


PROTESTANTISM. 


Bible,  if  it  contradicts  the  standpoint  of  the 
present  day,  is  regarded  as  not  obhgatory,  or  is 
even  derided  ;  nay,  actions  which  are  essentially 
Christian,  which  are  the  logical  consequences  of 
faith,  such  as  the  separation  of  believers  from 
unbelievers,  are  now  designated  as  unchristian.” 

And  in  speaking  in  the  name  of  modern  Pro¬ 
testantism,  he  says  :  We  give  a  true  significance 
to  baptism  only  by  regarding  it  as  a  symbol  of  the 
value  of  water  itself.  Water  is  the  simplest 
means  of  grace,  or  healing  for  the  maladies  of  the 
soul  as  well  as  the  body.  But  water  is  effectual 
only  when  its  use  is  constant  and  regular.  Bap¬ 
tism,  as  a  single  act,  is  an  altogether  useless, 
unmeaning  institution,  if  it  is  understood  to  typify 
and  celebrate  the  moral  and  physical  curative 
virtues  of  water.  .  .  I,  in  fact,  put  in  the  place  of 
the  barren  baptismal  water,  the  beneficent  effects 
of  real  water.” 

But  the  sacrament  of  water  required,”  adds 
this  logical  offspring  of  Luther,  “  a  supplement. 
...  If  in  water  we  declare  :  man  can  do  nothing 
without  nature  ;  by  bread  and  wine  we  declare  : 
nature  needs  man,  as  man  needs  nature.  In  water, 
human,  mental  activity  is  multiplied  ;  in  bread  and 
wine,  it  attains  self-satisfaction.  If  in  water  we 
adore  the  pure  force  of  nature,  in  bread  and  wine 


THE  RESULTS. 


191 


we  adore  the  supernatural  power  of  mind.  Hence 
this  sacrament  is  only  for  man  matured  into  con¬ 
sciousness,  while  baptism  is  imparted  to  infants 
Bread  and  wine  typify  to  us  the  truth  that  man 
is  the  true  God  and  Saviour  of  men. 

Eating  and  drinking  is  the  mystery  of  the 
Lord^s  Supper.  Think,  therefore,  with  every 
morsel  of  bread  which  relieves  thee  from  the  pain 
of  hunger,  with  every  draught  of  wine  which 
cheers  thy  heart,  of  thy  God  who  confers  these 
beneficent  gifts  upon  thee — think  of  man  !  But 
in  this  gratitude  towards  men,  forget  not  holy 
nature.  Forget  not  that  wine  is  the  blood  of 
plants,  and  flour  the  flesh  of  plants,  which  are 
sacrificed  for  thy  well-being.  Therefore  let  bread 
be  sacred  for  us,  let  wine  he  sacred,  and  let  also 
water  be  sacred.  Amen.” 

Practical  Christianity,^  according  to  the  latest 
developments  of  Protestantism,  consists  in  eating 
and  drinking,  and  bathing.  And  the  best  repre¬ 
sentation  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  the  Nine¬ 
teenth  Century  which  we  can  imagine,  is  a  cold- 
water-cure  establishment  with  a  tavern  attached, 

Protestantism,”  so  says  the  same  writer, 
“  has  thus  restored  man  in  life  and  practice,  in 
morality,  to  the  heathen  standpoint,  .  .  .  and 


*  Feuerbach’s  Essence  of  ChrisUanltj. 


192 


PROTESTANTS  M. 


not  only  practically,  but  theoretically  represents 
the  total  negation  of  Christianity  as  Chris¬ 
tianity/’  * 

This  is  a  sad  state  of  things  for  a  religion 
which  makes  the  absurd  and  lofty  pretension  of 
being  the  Reappearance  of  Christianity  !  ”  The 
picture  was  drawn  by  its  own  disciples,  and  its 
truth  is  acknowledged  by  the  candid,  even  among 
.  its  own  ministers.  The  confessions  of  one  of  these 
shall  close  our  account  of  this  total  subversion  of 
Christianity,  under  the  significant  title  of  Pro¬ 
testantism.” 

Oh,  Protestantism,  has  it,  then,  at  last,  come 
to  this  with  thee,  that  thy  disciples  protest  against 
all  religion  ?  F acts,  which  are  before  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  world,  declare  aloud  that  this  significa¬ 
tion  of  thy  name  is  no  idle  play  upon  words, 
though  I  know  that  this  confession  will  excite  a 
flame  of  indignation  against  myself.”  f 


•  Feuerbach’s  Essence  of  Christianity,  p.  429. 
t  Dr.  Jenischuber  Qottesverehrung  und  Klrohe,  {  SIO, 


CATHOLICITY. 


xxm. 

BfSSffn. 


“  Here  is  tie  <ieH^t 

And  here  tie  wisdom  wiici  did  open  1st, 

Tie  psti  list  hss  been  jesmeii  for  so  lon^ 

Betwixt  tie  iesTen  snd  esrti.'* 

Daste. 

Boldly,  as  it  becomes  impartial  friends  of 
truth,  we  put  to  the  Catholic  Eehgion,  the 
problems  of  our  “  Earnest  Seeker,"  and  demand 
what  it  teaches  with  respect  to  the  nature,  value, 
and  dismitv  of  Eeason  ? 

The  method  of  arrivins:  at  sincere  and  satisfac- 

C7 

torv  answers  to  these  great  questions,  is  bv  de¬ 
termining  what  the  Catholic  Church  teaches  to 
be  the  effects  of  Man’s  Fall  For  we  saw  in  Pro- 


194 


CATHOLICITY. 


testantism,  aDd  shall  see  in  Catholicity,  that  the 
character  of  the  answers  to  our  inquiries  depends 
on  the  doctrines  held  touching  the  nature  and 
effects  of  Original  Sin. 

The  authority  of  the  General  Councils  of  the 
Catholic  Church  is  with  its  members,  beyond  all 
dispute.  The  last  of  these,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  one  which,  more  than  any  other,  has  spoken 
on  the  question  under  present  consideration,  is 
the  Council  of  Trent.  This  Council,  in  speaking 
of  the  Fall,  says  : — 

“  That  the  first  man,  Adam,  when  he  had 
transgressed  the  commandment  of  God  in  paradise, 
immediately  lost  the  holiness  and  justice  wherein 
he  was  constituted.’'  ^ 

Two  important  questions  start  up  here  :  In 
what  consisted  the  holiness  and  justice  wherein 
man  was  constituted  ?  ”  What  were  the  effects 
of  their  ‘‘  loss  ?  ”  The  reply  to  these  demands 
will  bring  us  our  desired  answers  concerning 
Keason. 

In  answering  the  first,  we  will  premise  that 
God  created  man  in  the  beginning  in  his  own 
image.  He  formed  him  of  the  earth,  breathed  into 
his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a 
living  soul.  The  Soul  was  endowed  with  Reason 


•  Sees.  V.  L 


REASON. 


195 


and  Free-WilJ.  Bj  the  faculty  of  Keason  man  was 
cajDable  of  knowing  all  that  was  needful  for  him 
to  know  ;  and  by  his  Will  of  doing  all  that  was 
required  of  him  to  do.  Had  man  been  left  thus, 
his  happiness  would  have  consisted  in  the  know¬ 
ledge  and  love  of  God  as  the  Author  of  nature. 
He  need  not  have  been  exempt  from  hunger  and 
thirst,  or  ignorance,  or  from  the  revolt  of  the  pas¬ 
sions,  or  from  sickness  and  death.  And  God  could 
have  left  man  in  this  state,  for  all  these  incon¬ 
veniences  spring  from  the  natural  union  of  spirit 
with  matter,  and  in  them  there  is  nothing  con 
trary  to  God’s  infinite  perfections. 

But  God  did  not  leave  man  in  this  state  of 
mere  nature.  He  at  the  same  time  added  the  gift 
of  integrity.  This  adorned  the  Soul  with  all  the 
natural  knowledge  of  which  man  was  capable  ;  no 
dangerous  ignorance,  or  defect  of  judgment,  tar¬ 
nished  its  beauty.  The  Will  was  in  possession  of 
perfect  liberty,  was  upright,  and  tended  to  good 
without  any  inclination  to  evil.  Adam  was  mas¬ 
ter  of  the  sensitive  appetites,  of  all  the  bodily 
movements  ;  with  an  equable  temperament,  al¬ 
ways  tranquil,  with  no  tendency  to  excess,  he  en¬ 
joyed  perfect  health  of  body  without  being  subject 
to  infirmities  and  death. 

All  these  rich  gifts,  not  indeed  due  to  mere 


196 


CATHOLICITY. 


human  nature,  but  tending  to  complete  it  in  its 
own  order,  were  held  by  Adam  on  condition  of  his 
not  losing  sanctifying  grace,  which  God,  at  the 
same  moment,  superadded. 

Sanctifying  grace  elevated  man's  nature  to  a 
new  principle  of  life  and  action.  It  infused  into 
his  mind  and  heart  a  science  and  virtues  which 
transcended  altogether  the  order  of  nature.  Man 
became  participator  of  the  Divine  Nature,  and 
fitted,  one  day,  to  enjoy  the  Beatific  Vision,  which 
consists  in  gazing  upon  God's  own  essence. 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  holiness  and  justice 
wherein  Adam  was  constituted  before  he  had 
transgressed  the  commandment  of  God  in  Paradise. 

,  This  explained,  we  come  to  the  second  question  : 
What  was  the  efiect  of  Adam's  transgression  ? 

The  effect  of  Adam's  transgression  of  the  com¬ 
mandment  of  God  in  the  garden  of  Paradise,  was 
the  immediate  loss  of  the  holiness  and  justice 
wherein  he  was  constituted."  The  holiness  and 
justice  wherein  he  was  constituted  consisted  in 
the  gifts  of  integrity  and  sanctifying  grace.  Con¬ 
sequently  Adam,  by  the  loss  of  these,  was  exposed 
to  ignorance,  to  the  revolt  of  the  passions,  sickness 
and  death  ;  and  lost  his  title,  with  the  virtues 
connected  with  it,  to  the  Beatific  Vision.  In 
other  words,  Adam  by  his  transgression  fell  from 


REASON. 


197 


a  state  to  which  he  was  elevated  by  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  God's  pure  bounty  upon  his  mere  and 
unadorned  nature. 

Original  sin,  therefore,  did  not  efface  the  image 
of  God  stamped  upon  the  Soul.  Keason  and 
Free-Will  remained,  their  essence  unimpaired, 
lincorrupted,  uninjured.  It  did  not  despoil  man 
of  any  of  his  merely  natural  faculties,  capacities, 
or  powers.  All  the  rights  which  absolutely  be¬ 
longed  to  man's  nature,  he  possessed  after  the  Fall. 
Man,  by  Original  Sin,  lost  nothing  absolutely 
necessary  to  his  nature, — since  he  only  fell  back 
into  the  simply  natural  state  in  which  he  had  been 
originally,  or  might  have  been,  created. 

Adam's  transgression  left  in  man  no  positively 
evil  quality,  depraving  the  substance  of  our 
common  nature.  For  there  is  no  sin  whatever 
in  man's  being  exposed  to  toil  and  hunger,  to 
ignorance  and  temptations,  to  sickness  and  death. 
Consequently,  God  might  have  created  man's 
nature  in  the  beginning  consistently  with  his 
divine  perfections,  as  it  now  exists.  For  man  in 
his  natural  condition,  with  the  right  use  of  hia 
Reason,  and  the  good  use  of  his  Free-Will,  gra¬ 
ciously  aided  as  they  always  are,  can  attain  to  the 
great  end  for  which  he  was  divinely  appointed. 
It  follows  also,  that  those  who  die  in  the  state  in 


198 


CATHOLICITY. 


which  we  now  are  horn,  without  actual  sin,  will 
obtain  from  the  hands  of  their  all-good  Creator 
all  the  happiness  their  natural  capacities  are 
capable  of. 

Briefly,  man  is  not,  in  consequence  of  the  Fall, 
born  with  essential  depravity,  or  with  the  loss  of 
any  of  his  natural  faculties,  or  with  the  forfeiture 
of  any  of  his  merely  natural  rights  ;  what  the  F all 
did  was  to  despoil  man  of  the  graces  and  gifts 
which  were  not  necessary  to  his  nature,  which  he 
had  no  right  to  claim,  but  which  were  bestowed 
upon  him,  over  and  above  his  mere  nature,  from 
the  pure  bounty  of  his  benign  Creator. 

This  beautifully  reconciles  the  Sacred  History 
of  Man^s  Fall  with  the  first  principles  of  Reason 
and  with  right  and  honorable  views  of  God. 

Grant,  says  one,  that  man  is  in  full  possession 
of  his  Reason, -what  can  it  do  ?  Who  knows  ? 
We  may  after  all  be  told  in  the  classic  language 
of  the  great  Reformer,  that  “  in  religious  matters 
Reason  is  worthless,^’  Reason  is  the  enemy  of  all 
Relimon/^  and  “  in  discussing  such  matters  we 
should  leave  the  jackass  at  home  !  ” 

Catholicity  must  give  us  a  definite  and  explicit 
answer  to  this  question  :  What  can  Reason  in  its 
present  condition  accomplish  ? 

On  two  occasions  the  Catholic  Church  has 


REASON. 


199 


required,  as  a  test  of  orthodoxy  a  subscription  to 
the  following  proposition  :  Keason  can  with 

certitude  demonstrate  the  Existence  of  God,  the 
Spirituality  of  the  Soul,  and  the  Liberty  of  Man."* 

This  is  a  Catholic  authoritative  decision  ;  and 
if  we  grant  to  Reason  the  knowledge  of  these 
three  great  truths,  we  have  Reason  not  as  a  mere 
abstract  and  speculative  faculty,  but  Reason  in¬ 
formed  and  constituted.  Grant  to  Reason  the 
knowledge  of  these  important  and  primal  truths, 
and  Reason  has  the  ability  to  deduce  from  them 
the  fundamental  principles  of  Religion,  Society, 
and  the  State.  This  is  important  and  demands 
development. 

Give  to  Reason  the  knowledge  of  God,  and 
Reason  is  able  to  deduce  from  this  knowledge  the 
principal  attributes  of  God  ; — God  as  the  Author 
of  the  Universe  ;  God  as  the  Upholder  of  all 
things  ;  God  as  the  Rewarder  of  the  good  and  the 
Punisher  of  the  wicked. 

Give  to  Reason  the  knowledge  of  the  Spirituality 
of  the  Soul,  and  Reason  is  able  to  deduce  from 
this  knowledge  the  Souks  future  existence,  and 
its  priceless  value,  excellence  and  dignity. 

Give  to  Reascm  the  knowledge  of  the  Liberty 
of  Man,  and  it  is  able  to  deduce  from  this  know- 

*  Baiitain,  lS40.--Bonnett7,  185S. 


200 


CATHOLICITY. 


ledge  man’s  responsibility  to  his  Creator  for  all  his  / 
actions — religious,  moral,  social,  and  political. 

For  these  deductions  flow  immediately  from 
the  preceding  primary  truths.  And  no  one  who 
understands  himself,  will  dispute  that  Keason  is 
competent  to  draw  from  primary  truths  their  evi¬ 
dent  conclusions. 

Keason,  therefore,  rightly  exercised,  is  able  to 
know  with  certainty  the  great  principles  which 
underlie  Religion,  Morals,  Social  Order,  Political 
Economy,  and  the  Rights  of  Man.  According, 
then,  to  sound  Catholic  teaching,  the  great  ideas 
and  sentiments  which  constitute  the  foundations 
of  the  noble  Institutions  of  human  society,  are  a 
part  of  the  domain  of  Reason. 

There  is  no  escape  from  this  without  destroy¬ 
ing  our  title  of  being  rational  creatures.  F or  what 
is  man  when  deprived  of  the  knowledge  of  God  ? 
or  of  the  Spirituality  of  the  Soul  ?  or  of  the  Lib¬ 
erty  of  the  Will  ?  Is  he  a  rational  creature,  a 
man  ?  By  no  means.  He  may  look  like  one,  but 
he  wants  the  head  and  crown  of  his  manhood. 

It  is  therefore  no  part  of  Catholicity  to  teach 
the  worthlessness  of  Reason,  or  to  disparage  its 
noble  and  sublime  efibrts.  It  was  by  the  efforts 
of  Reason  that  the  ancient  sages  and  philoso- 
ohers,  in  their  better  moments,  raised  their  minds 


REASON. 


201 


above  the  visible  world,  to  the  First  True,  the 
First  Good,  the  First  Fair,  the  Creator  and  Ex^ 
emplar  of  all  things,  the  only  true  and  eternal 
God.  Led  by  the  light  of  this  sovereign  faculty, 
they  discovered  many  great  and  most  important 
truths,  that  have  made  their  writings  an  everlast¬ 
ing  monument  of  the  greatness,  grandeur,  and 
glory  of  human  genius.  This  divine  gift  has  in¬ 
spired,  in  hoth  ancient  and  modern  times,  the 
beautiful  works  of  art,  the  wonderful  discoveries 
of  science,  and  the  magnificent  inventions  of  me¬ 
chanical  ingenuity. 

Catholicity,  therefore,  has  the  highest  apprecia¬ 
tion  of  Keason,  stimulates  its  activity,  and  wel¬ 
comes  with  joy  its  discoveries.  ‘‘  This  most  tender 
mother,  the  Catholic  Church,  recognizes  and  justly 
proclaims,^'  says  the  reigning  sovereign  Pontiff, 
that  among  the  gifts  of  Heaven,  the  most  distin¬ 
guished  is  that  of  Keason,  by  means  of  which  we 
raise  ourselves  above  the  senses,  and  present  in 
ourselves  a  certain  image  of  God.  Certainly  the 
Church  does  not  condemn  the  labors  of  those  who 
wish  to  know  the  truth,  since  God  has  placed  in 
human  nature  the  desire  of  laying  hold  of  the  true  ; 
nor  does  she  condemn  the  efibrt  of  sound  and  right 
Keason,  by  which  the  mind  is  cultivated,  nature 


9* 


202 


CATHOLICITY. 


is  searched,  and  her  more  hidden  secrets  brought 
to  light.”  * 

Consequently,  the  geologist  may  dig  deep  down 
into  the  bowels  of  the  earth  till  he  reaches  the  in- 
tensest  heats  ;  the  naturalist  may  decompose  mat¬ 
ter,  examine  with  the  microscope  what  escapes 
our  unaided  observation,  and  unveil  to  our  aston¬ 
ished  gaze  the  secrets  of  nature  ;  the  astronomer 
may  multiply  his  lenses  till  his  ken  reaches  the 
empyrean  heights  of  heaven  ;  the  historian  may 
consult  the  annals  of  nations,  and  unriddle  the 
hieroglyphics  of  the  monuments  of  bygone  ages  ; 
the  moralist  may  expose  the  most  delicate  folds  of 
the  human  heart,  and  probe  it  to  its  very  core  ; 
the  philosopher  may,  with  his  critical  faculty,  ob¬ 
serve  and  define  the  laws  which  govern  man’s 
sovereign  Season  ;  and  Catholicity  is  not  alarmed  ! 
Catholicity  invokes,  encourages,  solicits  your  bold¬ 
est  efforts  ;  for  at  the  end  of  all  your  earnest 
researches,  you  will  find  that  the  fruit  of  your 
labors  confirm  her  teachings,  and  that  your  gen¬ 
uine  discoveries  add  new  gems  to  the  crown  of 
truth  which  encircles  her  heaven-inspired  brow. 

Our  indulgent  readers  will  not  he  displeased 
’£  we  relate  an  example  illustrative  of  this  truth. 

Professor  H.  was  distinguished  for  his  research- 

•  Pius  IX.  Letter  to  the  Bishops  of  Austria,  1866, 


BE  ABON. 


203 


es  and  discoveries  in  the  field  of  Natural  History. 
For  these  his  writings  merited  translation  and 
publication  in  France.  One  of  his  discoveries  was 
that  of  a  family  of  animalculee.  One  day,  observ¬ 
ing  these  by  the  aid  of  a  microscope,  and  with 
more  than  usual  attention,  he  perceived  that  they 
had  a  perfect  system  of  an  organized  government. 
There  was  a  chief,  with  subordinate  officers,  each 
having  his  own  duties  to  perform,  and  all  acting 
in  unison  and  perfect  order. 

This  unexpected  discovery  surprised  the  Pro- 
fessor,  and  led  him  to  turn  his  observation  abroad 
upon  the  wide  field  of  nature.  Every  where,  to 
his  satisfaction,  he  found  the  same  unity,  the  same 
laws,  the  same  harmony,  the  same  form  of  govern¬ 
ment,  from  the  meanest  floweret  or  insect  to  the 
vast  planetary  systems  of  worlds.  A  thought  oc¬ 
curred  to  him  at  this  moment,  whether  this  uni¬ 
versal  form  of  government,  found  in  all  nature, 
was  not  a  stamp  and  similitude  of  nature's  Author; 
and  whether,  if  God  had  made  known  his  will  to 
his  rational  creatures,  he  would  not  display  the 
same  laws,  the  same  government,  but  only  in  a 
higher  and  more  perfect  form. 

Now,  this  was  no  small  stride  for  our  Professor 
to  make,  for  the  truth  is,  he  was  bred  a  Protestant, 
and  on  arriving  at  the  age  when  men  are  accus- 


204 


CATHOLICITY. 


tomed  to  do  their  own  thinking,  he  found  that  this 
religion  neither  answered  his  Keason  nor  satisfied 
his  conscience.  He  therefore  abandoned  the  reli¬ 
gion  of  the  sixteenth  century,  began  to  read  the 
works  of  French  philosophers,  gave  up  all  ideas  of 
Christianity,  and  ended  in  becoming  a  Deist. 

What  now  ?  After  having  discovered  this  law 
running  through  all  nature,  his  curiosity  was  ex¬ 
cited  to  see  whether  he  could  find  it  in  any  one  of 
the  prevailing  systems  of  religious  belief.  Of  the 
dissensions  and  degrading  doctrines  of  Protestant¬ 
ism,  he  knew  sufficient  from  his  own  experience. 
There  was  no  way  left  but  to  examine  Catholicity. 
His  acquaintance  with  the  Catholic  Church  was 
very  slight,  and  no  priest  residing  in  his  village,  on 
inquiry  he  found  a  Catholic  in  the  place  who  was 
prepared  to  give  him  the  information  he  desired. 
The  Professor  was  gratified  to  find  in  the  Catholic 
Church  the  same  organization,  the  same  laws,  the 
same  form  of  government  which  he  had  found  in 
all  nature.  His  conclusion  was  that  the  Catholic 
religion  had  for  its  author  the  great  Author  of  all 
nature  and  of  the  vast  universe. 

What  next  ?  Too  sincere  not  to  acknowledge 
the  truth  when  known,  too  earnest  not  to  be  faith 
fill  to  the  light  he  had  received  and  his  convictions, 
our  Professor  starts  for  the  metropolis,  to  have  an 


REASON. 


205 


iuterview  witli  the  Catholic  Bishop.  He  intro¬ 
duces  himself  to  the  Bishop  as  Mr.  H.  On  taking 
a  chair,  it  occurs  to  the  mind  of  the  Bishop  that 
the  gentleman's  name  was  the  same  as  that  of  a 
celebrated  professor  of  Natural  History,  and  he 
put  the  question,  whether  he  was  that  Professor. 
Modest,  like  all  truly  learned  men,  he  replied, 
Sometimes  persons  call  me  so."  But  he  contin¬ 
ued  under  feelings  of  excitement « because  of  the 
important  nature  of  his  visit,  and,  addressing  the 
Bishop,  he  asked  him  if  he  had  any  reasons  why 
he  should  not  become  a  Catholic.  The  Bishop 
was  not  a  little  startled  at  such  a  question,  and 
replied  in  his  usual  bland  and  winning  way : 

Why,  Professor,  I  have  no  reasons  why  you 
should  not  become  a  Catholic,  but  many  and 
every  reason  why  you  should."  Understanding 
the  purpose  of  the  Professor's'  visit,  and  curious  to 
know  what  had  turned  his  attention  to  the  Catho¬ 
lic  Church,  the  Bishop  asked  him,  before  going 
further,  what  it  was  that  first  directed  his  thoughts 
to  Cathohcity  ?  “  Bugs  !  hugs  !  bugs  !  "  replied 
the  Professor,  quickly. 

r  Bugs  !  "  repeated  the  astonished  prelate 
“  What  have  these  to  do  with  the  truth  of  the 
%  Catholic  religion  ? "  Thereupon  the  Professor 
related  the  facts  which  we  have  just  narrated, 

7 


206 


CATHOLICITY. 


and  the  Bishop  found  them  satisfactory  as  well 
as  amusing.  In  due  time  the  Professor  became 
a  member  of  that  Church  whose  doctrines  are 
consonant  with  the  dictates  of  Reason, 

“  Whose  proofs  are  every  where. 

Whatever  we  hear  or  see,  whate’er  doth  lie 
Round  us  in  nature :  all  that  the  structure  of 
Science,  or  in  Art,  hath  found  or  wrought.”  * 


XXIV. 


Iltasirn. 


•Sure,  He  that  made  us  with  such  large  discourstt, 

Looking  before,  and  after,  gave  us  not 
That  capability  and  godlike  Eeason 
To  fust  in  us  unused.” 

Shakbpkabb. 

ACCOKDING  to  Catholicity,  then,  man  was 
not  deprived  by  the  fall  of  Adam,  of  Reason, 
nor  did  it  render  Reason  worthless,  for  it  is  still 
in  possession  of  certain  great  truths,  upon  the 
knowledge  of  which  our  claim  of  being  rational 
creatures,  and  the  institutions  of  civilized  society, 
depend. 

There  may  he  some  desirous  to  push  their 
inquiries  still  further,  and  who  might  ask  :  What 
is  the  precise  value  of  Reason,  face  to  face,  with 
the  truths  of  Religion  ?  Do  Reason  and  the 


208 


CATHOLICITY 


Catholic  ReKgion  stand  as  in  the  case  of  Protes¬ 
tantism,  in  hostile  attitude  towards  each  other  ? 
Does  Catholicity  look  with  an  unfavorable  eye  on 
the  application  of  Keason  to  the  heaven-inspired 
truths  of  Keligion  ? 

The  Catholic  Eeligion  teaches  that  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  Eeason  necessarily  precedes  the  acceptance 
of  the  truths  of  Eeligion,  and  that  it  is  an  obliga¬ 
tion  laid  upon  Eeason  to  inquire  diligently,  and 
to  he  certain  that  those  truths  wliich  are  proposed 
to  its  belief,  have  God  for  their  Author,  before  it 
gives  its  assent. 

Subscription  to  the  following  proposition  has 
repeatedly  been  required  of  Catholics,  whose  pub¬ 
lished  opinions  seemed  to  undervalue  Eeason  in 
the  interests  of  faith.  It  runs  thus  : — 

“  The  exercise  of  Eeason  precedes  faith,  and, 
with  the  aid  of  revelation  and  grace,  leads  to 
faith.”  * 

Before  an  act  of  faith  can  he  made,  Eeason 
must  apprehend  what  is  proposed  for  belief ;  this 
is  one  exercise  of  Eeason.  And,  after  this  appre¬ 
hension,  the  examination,  if  the  evidence  of  what 
is  proposed  for  belief  was  truly  revealed  by  God, 
is  another  exercise  of  Eeason.  Faith,  therefore,  is 
not  an  act  contrary  to  Eeason,  nor  independent 

•  Abl>6  BantaLo,  1840.— A  Bonnetty,  1856. 


REASON. 


209 


of  it  ;  but  in  strict  accordance  with  its  laws,  and 
wholly  impossible  unless  preceded  by  its  exercise. 

They  err  greatly,  therefore,  who  imagine  that 
“  Catholics  have  no  right,  on  their  principles,  to 
address  Reason  at  all  on  the  subject  of  Religion/' 
They  are  equally  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  genuine 
faith,  and  attribute  to  Catholicity  the  errors  and 
absurdities  of  Protestantism,  which  she  in  times 
long  gone  by,  exposed,  refuted,  and  publicly  con¬ 
demned. 

Faith,  therefore,  is  an  act  which  begins  in  the 
intelligence,  calls  forth  its  exercise,  and  cannot 
take  place  unless  on  reasonable,  certain,  and  suf¬ 
ficient  grounds.  Once  more,  earnest  inquirer,  give 
ear  to  the  Visible  Head  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
instructing  the  Patriarchs,  Primates,  Arch¬ 
bishops  and  Bishops  of  the  Catholic  world,"  on 
this  most  important  point. 

Lest  human  Reason  should  be  deceived  in  a 
matter  of  so  great  moment,  it  behooves  it  to  inquire 
dihgently  concerning  Divine  Revelation,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  made  certain  that  God  has  spoken, 
and  also  in  order  that  it  may  exercise,  according 
to  the  most  wise  teaching  of  the  Apostles,  a 
‘  reasonable  obedience.'  Who  is  ignorant  that  it 
is  our  duty  to  place  all  our  faith  in  God  when  He 
speaks,  and  that  nothing  is  more  consonant  with 


210 


CATHOLICITY. 


Keason  tlian  to  give  its  assent,  and  firmly  adhere 
to  those  things  of  which  it  has  been  made  certain 
that  they  have  been  revealed  by  Grod,  who  cannot 
be  deceived  or  deceive.^" 

They  make  equally  a  great  mistake  Who  sup¬ 
pose  that  the  Catholic  Church  exacts  a  blind 
and  inconsiderate  obedience  to  her  teachings."'  The 
Church  is  fully  aware  that  no  other  than  a  rea¬ 
sonable  obedience"  is  worthy  of  a  rational  crea¬ 
ture,  and  acceptable  to  his  Creator.  A  practical 
illustration  will  make  this  point  plain.  '• 

What  are  the  preparatory  steps  to  be  taken  in 
order  to  be  received  into  the  fold  of  the  Catholic 
Church  ?  In  the  first  place,  the  candidate  is  ex¬ 
amined  to  discover  whether  he  knows  what  are 
the  important  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Religion. 
If  these  be  distinctly  known,  then  it  is  required  to 
be  known  also  on  what  precise  grounds  these 
truths  are  proposed  for  belief.  Is  there  a  defi¬ 
ciency  of  knowledge  in  this  respect,  the  reception  is 
delayed,  instructions  are  imparted,  until  the  truths 
proposed  for  belief  are  well  known,  and  the  mind 
is  without  any  doubt  of  their  having  been  revealed 
by  God.  Christianity  is  a  Religion  addressed  to 
man's  intelligence  and  moral  nature,  and  only  an 
enlightened  and  free  assent  to  its  divine  truths, 
can  make  Christians.  As  long  as  there  remains  a 


*  Enoyo.  184& 


RE ASOK. 


211 


doubt  on  the  mind,  no  one  can  become  a  Catholic, 
for  Christian  faith  excludes  even  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt.  Equally  jealous  of  the  rights  of  Keason 
and  the  homage  due  to  the  Divine  Truths  confided 
to  her  care  by  her  Divine  Founder,  the  Catholic 
Church  accepts  no  other  than  a  reasonable 
obedience.” 

Any  one  who  knows  how  members  are  received 
among  the  Protestant  sects,  knows  full  well  what 
'  indifference  is  shown  to  enlightening  the  Keason 
in  regard  to  the  great  truths  of  the  Christian  Re¬ 
ligion.  For  the  most  part,  little  or  no  pains  are 
taken  to  discover  what  the  candidates  believe,  or 
on  what  grounds  their  belief  rests.  Many  are 
received  without  even  once  reading  their  formulas 
of  faith  ;  among  others  who  have  no  such  formulas, 
a  vague  notion  of  Christianity,  and  an  irrational 
confidence,  answer  for  rational  convictions  and 
the  reverence  due  to  its  great  and  solemn  truths. 
Among  some  of  the  more  popular  sects  of  Protest¬ 
antism,  the  reception  of  Christianity  is  a  sheer 
piece  of  fanaticism,  for  it  takes  place  at  a  time 
when  Reason  is  drowned  by  a  wild  and  extrava¬ 
gant  excitement  of  the  passions. 

A  gilded  pill  !  ”  some  one  may,  in  the  way 
of  an  objection,  exclaim.  Once  admit  the  autho¬ 
rity  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  you  will  be  forced 


212 


CAT  HOLICITT. 


to  assent  blindly  to  whatever  she  teaches,  and, 
with  its  overpowering  weight,  it  will  stultify  your 
intelligence,  and  crush  from  the  mind  all  free 
thought/^ 

Patience  !  good  Keader,  and  do  not  lay  to  our 
charge  the  desire  to  raise  objections  in  order  to 
display  a  vain  skill  in  their  refutation.  Sincerely, 
these  are  not  our  objections  ;  every  one  is  taken, 
not  out  of  our  own  imagination,  or  from  fusty  old 

books,  but  word  for  word,  from  living  authorities 

• 

antagonistic  to  Catholicity.  We  bespeak  a  little 
indulgence. 

Men’s  minds  must  be  strangely  disordered  to 
see  in  others  only  their  own  special  miseries  ;  to 
charge  upon  others  what  is  but  their  own  wretch¬ 
edness,  while  they,  with  a  peculiar  self-compla¬ 
cency,  imagine  themselves  happy  ! 

If  Protestantism  emancipates  the  intelligence 
and  gives  place  to  free  thought,  why  is  it  that  the 
most  intellectually  gifted  and  independent  minds 
of  the  age  cast  off  Protestantism  and  embrace 
Catholicity  ?  As  an  illustration,  we  have  only  tc 
cite  of  Germany  such  names  as  Haller,  Phillips, 
Hurter  ;  or,  of  England, — Newman,  Allies,  Wil- 
berforce  ;  or,  of  America, — Brownson,  Haldeman, 
Anderson.  Is  it  at  all  likely,  is  it  reasonable  to 
suppose,  that  men  of  this  order  of  mind,  of  this 


K  E  A  so  N  . 


213 


temper,  and  who  were  born  and  bred  under  the 
glorious  emancipation  and  freedom  afforded  by 
Protestantism,  should,  with  their  eyes  open,  em¬ 
brace  and  continue  in  a  Keligion  whose  influence 
benumbs  our  intellectual  faculties,  and  whose 
authority  crushes  out  all  free  thought  ?  Regard¬ 
ing  this  matter  from  a  rational  point  of  view, 
there  is  a  good  deal  more  reason  to  believe  that 
these  men,  with  a  large  body  of  converts  to  the 
Catholic  Religion,  became  Catholics  in  order  to 
emancipate  their  Reason  from  the  violent  thraldom 
exercised  over  it  by  Protestantism. 

The  testimony  of  one  whose  courage  as  Pro¬ 
testant,  or  as  Catholic,  never  faltered  to  express 
the  honest  convictions  of  his  mind,  or  its  freest 
thoughts,  are  here  in  point. 

The  struggle  between  faith  and  Reason  is 
something  wholly  foreign  to  the  Catholic  mind,*' 
and  ten  years^  experience  of  the  Catholic  religion 
gave  him  the  right  to  say  so.  And  the  real 
Catholic,”  he  continues,  “  flnds  it  hard,  unless  he 
has  been  bred  a  Protestant,  even  to  conceive  of  it, 
because  Catholicity,  though  it  requires  us  to  do 
violence  to  the  flesh,  never  requires  us  to  do  vio¬ 
lence  to  Reason.  Catholicity  is  not  rationalistic 
but  it  is  a  rational  religion,  and  at  every  step  sat¬ 
isfies  the  demands  of  the  most  rigid  Reason.  We 


214 


CATHOLICITY. 


were  told  so  before  we  came  mto  the  Church,  but 
we  could  hardly  believe  it ;  and  even  when  we  were 
permitted  to  enter,  we  did  not  doubt  but  we 
should  still  find  something  of  that  interior  struggle 
between  faith  and  Reason,  which  had  rendered  us 
so  miserable  as  a  Protestant,  so  hard  is  it  for  a 
Protestant  mind  to  conceive  the  possibility  of  per- 
feet  harmony  between  faith  in  the  supernatural 
and  the  dictates  of  Reason.  We  have  not  thus 
far  been  troubled  with  any  struggles  of  this  sort, 
and  we  are  unable  to  conceive  how  as  long  as  we 
remain  Catholics  we  can  be,  because  in  Catholicity 
all  has  a  sufficient  reason,  is  sure  to  have  a  pur¬ 
pose  worthy  of  itself,  and  nothing  is  required  to  be 
believed  but  on  adequate  authority,  and  thus  the 
demands  of  the  highest  Reason  is  satisfied.” 

The  truth  is,”  says  another  illustrious  con¬ 
vert  to  the  Catholic  Church,  ^^that  the  world, 
knowing  nothing  of  the  blessings  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  prophesying  nothing  but  ill  concerning 
it,  fancies  that  a  convert,  after  the  first  fervor  is 
over,  feels  nothing  but  disappointment,  weariness, 
and  offence  in  his  new  religion,  and  is  secrectly  de¬ 
sirous  of  retracing  his  steps.  .  .  .  That  there  can 
be  peace  and  joy,  and  knowledge  and  freedom,  and 
spiritual  strength  in  the  Church,  is  a  thought  far 


*  O.  A  Brownson.  Review,  1858L 


REASON 


215 


beyond  its  imagination  ;  for  it  regards  her  simply 
as  a  frightful  conspiracy  against  the  happiness  of 
man,  seducing  her  victims  by  specious  professions, 
and,  when  they  are  once  hers,  caring  nothing  for 
the  misery  which  breaks  upon  them,  so  that  by 
any  means  she  may  detain  them  in  bondage.  Ac¬ 
cordingly  it  conceives  we  are  in  perpetual  warfare 
with  our  Reason,  fierce  objections  ever  rising,  and 
we  forcibly  repressing  them.  ...  It  fancies  that 
the  Reason  is  ever  rebelling  like  the  flesh  ;  that 
doubt,  like  concupiscence,  is  elicited  by  every  sight 
and  sound,  and  the  temptation  insinuates  itself  in 
every  page  of  letter-press,  and  through  the  very 
voice  of  a  Protestant  polemic.  But,  my  dear 
brethren,  if  these  are  your  thoughts,  you  are  sim¬ 
ply  in  error.  Trust  me,  rather  than  the  world, 
when  I  tell  you  that  it  is  no  difficult  thing  for  a 
Catholic  to  believe  ;  and  that  unless  he  grievously 
mismanages  himself,  the  difficult  thing  is  for  him 
to  doubt.  He  has  received  a  gift  which  makes 
faith  easy  ;  it  is  not  without  an  effort,  a  miserable 
effort,  that  any  one  who  has  received  that  gift 
unlearns  to  believe.  He  does  violence  to  his  mind, 
not  in  exercising,  but  in  withholding  faith.*’ 

Thus  the  groundless  charges  against  Catho¬ 
licity  ape  thrown  back  and  fastened  upon  their 


*  Newman's  Discoarses  to  Mixed  Congregationa ;  Dis.  xl. 


216 


CATHOLICITY. 


authors,  and  they  cannot,  with  their  utmost  skill 
and  ingenuity,  clear  themselves  of  them. 

The  idea  of  Reason  being  fettered,  or  its 
activity  diminished,  by  the  Christian  faith,  never 
enters  the  Catholic  mind.  This  is  also  evident  from 
the  pages  of  history.  The  antagonism  between 
Reason  and  faith  is  nowhere  found  among  the 
Ancient  Fathers  and  Doctors  of  the  Church.  They 
regarded  Reason  and  Christianity  as  existing  in  a 
most  beautiful  accord.  The  scholastics  were  so 
far  from  the  thought  of  contradiction  between 
Reason  and  Revelation  that  they  endeavored  to 
construct  an  entire  defence  of  Christianity  on  the 
basis  of  Reason.  It  was  the  lights  of  the  Refor¬ 
mation  who  first  broached  the  idea  of  an  hostility 
between  Reason  and  Christianity  ;  and  they  did 
this  partly  out  of  hostility  to  the  scholastics,  and 
still  more  in  consequence  of  their  irrational  expo¬ 
sition  of  the  nature  and  effects  of  original  sin,  in 
which  some  denied  to  man  even  the  faculty  of 
Reason,  and  others,  whatever  of  Reason  they  left 
to  him,  as  an  inheritance,  taught  that  it  was  at 
enmity  with  God  and  Religion. 

It  is  not  only  a  fact  of  Catholic  experience 
confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  Church,  that 
Catholicity  fortifies  Reason,  enlarges  its  horizon, 
and  elevates  its  vision,  but  the  relations  existing 
between  the  truths  of  Reason  and  the  transcendent 


REASON. 


217 


fcmtliH  of  Revelation,  as  taught  by  the  Catholic 
Religion,  prove  that  this  must  in  the  nature  of 
things  he  so. 

When  Reason  has  once  made  itself  certain  of 
the  evidence  of  a  Divine  Revelation,  it  then 
appropriates  the  truths  which  this  reveals  hy  its 
assent,  and  exercises  its  powers  on  them.  For 
although  the  mysteries  of  Religion  are  beyond  our 
powers  of  explanation,  yet  they  each  present,  more 
or  less,  an  intelligible  side  to  our  natural  Reason. 
And  so  far  as  they  are  intelligible.  Reason  may 
exercise  itself  most  profitably  in  tracing  out  their 
harmony  with  its  dictates  ;  their  influence  on  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  men,  and  on  society  ;  and,  by 
devoutly  meditating  on  them,  it  may  penetrate 
farther  into  Iheir  meaning,  bring  out  their  hidden 
analogy  with  other  truths,  and  clothe  itself  with 
their  transcendent  beauty. 

It  was  this  research  of  the  relations  of  Nature 
and  the  truths  of  Reason  to  Revealed  Truths,  that 
occupied  the  master  minds  of  Sacred  Science. 
And  this  research  of  Reason  the  Catholic  Religion 
always  has  encouraged  and  sanctioned. 

This  will  be  placed  beyond  all  doubt  by  the 
following  citation  of  the  same  Encyclical  Letter  of 
Pius  IX.,  quoted  on  pages  209—210.  Speaking  of 
those  men  “  who  arrogate  to  themselves  the  name 
10 


218 


CATHOLICITY. 


of  philosophers,  and  prate  about  faith  gainsaying 
Reason,”  he  says  : 

It  is  certain  that  there  is  nothing  more  fool¬ 
ish.  nothing  more  impious,  and  that  nothing  more 
contrary  to  Reason  can  be  imagined  or  thought  of, 
than  the  opinion  which  supposes  that  the  Christian 
faith  gainsays  Reason.  Although  faith  is  above 
Reason,  nevertheless  no  discord,  no  opposition  can 
ever  be  found  betwixt  them,  since  both  faith  and 
Reason  spring  from  one  and  the  same  unchange¬ 
able  and  eternal  fountain  of  truth,  the  Almighty 
and  Eternal  Gv.d  ;  and  therefore,  they  afford  mu¬ 
tual  help  to  each  other,  so  that  right  Reason  dem¬ 
onstrates,  upholds,  and  defends  faith  ;  and  faith 
on  the  other  hand  emancipates  Reason  from  all  er¬ 
rors,  wonderfully  enlightens,  confirms,  and  perfects 
Reason  with  the  knowledge  of  Divine  Things.” 

Catholicity,  therefore,  regards  Reason  and 
Truth  as  twin  sisters  born  of  the  one  primal  source 
of  all  light.  Faith  with  its  supernal  light  mingles 
its  beams  with  those  of  Reason,  solves  the  dark 
enigmas  which  tormented  its  existence,  and  opens 
to  it  the  only  path  to  its  divine  destination. 

“  Faith’s  virtue  to  our  vision  knits  ;  and  thus 
Supported,  lifts  us  above  ourselves, 

That  on  the  sovereign  essence  which  it  wells  from, 

We  have  the  power  to  gaze.”  t 


•  Encyo,  1846. 


t  DanU. 


\ 


/ 


$xtt-Wilh 

“  tnpreme  of  which  God,  crea'ilng,  gnT« 

Of  his  free  bounty,  sign  most  evident 
Of  goodness,  and  in  His  account  most  prized, 

Was  liberty  of  will ;  the  boon  wherewith 
All  intellectaal  creatures,  and  them  sole 
He  hath  endowed.” 

Dantb, 

rpHE  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Keligion  in  regard 
X  to  Free-Will,  is  already  sufficiently  explained 
when  we  consider  that  Reason  implies  the  free¬ 
dom  of  the  Will.  For  the  simple  faculty  to  know, 
or  the  knowledge  of  first  principles,  does  not 
suffice  to  constitute  man  a  reasonable  being  ;  he 
needs  for  that  also  the  liberty  of  choice.  As  then 
Free-Will  is  a  constituent  part  of  maffis  rational 
nature,  and  this  being  fully  explained  in  the  pre 
ceding  chapter,  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter  at  largt 
on  this  point  of  our  present  inquiry. 


220 


CATHOLICITY 


In  the  teaching  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  this 
subject,  we  shall  find  the  same  concert  and  har¬ 
mony  between  Free-Will  and  Grace,  as  we  did 
between  Keason  and  Faith.  For  as  Kevelation 
supposes  Keason,  so  does  Grace  suppose  Free- 
Will.  And  as  Keason  is  able,  by  the  exercise  of 
its  natural  abihties,  to  gain  the  knowledge  of  cer¬ 
tain  great  and  primary  truths,  so  is  the  Free-Will 
able  by  its  exertions  to  practise  certain  noble  and 
evign  heroic  virtues. 

Let  us  then,  as  our  first  step,  establish  the 
fact  that  the  Catholic  doctrine  teaches  that  man 
is  in  possession  of  Free-Will.  In  the  sixth  Session 
of  the  Council  of  Trent  will  be  found  the  follow¬ 
ing 

If  any  one  saith,  that  since  Adam's  sin,  the 
Free-Will  of  man  is  lost  and  extinguished  ;  or, 
that  it  is  a  thing  without  a  reality,  a  figment,  in 
'  fine,  introduced  into  the  Church  by  Satan,  let  him 
be  anathema." 

Catholicity,  m  claiming  for  man  the  possession 
of  Free-Will  and  condemning  the  errors  of  Prot¬ 
estantism,  proves  herself  to  be  the  upholder  of  the 
dignity  of  human  nature,  the  friend  of  liberty,  and 
the  defender  of  the  rights  of  man.  For  without 
Free-Will,  hberty  is  impossible,  there  is  no  such 


*  CanoB  V. 


FREE-WILL. 


221 


tiling  as  rights,  and  man-  becomes  the  passive  in¬ 
strument  of  an  irresistible  and  impenetrable  des¬ 
tiny.  Would  men  but  open  their  eyes  to  truth, 
they  would  discover  that  the  anathemas  of  the 
Catholic  Church  were  never  pronounced  except 
against  the  most  pernicious  and  detestable  errors  ; 
errors  subversive  of  all  rational  religion,  inimical 
to  good  morals,  destructive  to  society,  and  detri¬ 
mental  to  man's  best  interests.  It  will  be  also 
found,  that  her  decisions  tend  to  the  greatest 
glory  and  honor  of  Almighty  God,  confirm  and 
sustain  the  highest  appreciation  of  man's  nature, 
and  are  favorable  to  the  greatest  happiness  of  the 
human  race. 

Holding  to  the  fact  that  man  is  in  possession 
of  this  freedom  of  his  will,  the  Catholic  Church 
must  necessarily  teach  that  man  possesses  the 
ability  to  practise  virtue,  and  is  responsible  for 
his  actions.  Let  us  confirm  this  statement. 

In  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  we  find 
the  following,  which  touches  on  the  point  now 
under  consideration  : — 

Although  Free-WiU,  attenuated  and  inclined 
as  it  was  in  its  powers  (by  original  sin),  was  by 
no  means  extinguished." 

Now  how  are  these  words,  “  attenuated  and 


•  Sees.  vL 


222 


CATHOLICITY. 


inclined,”  in  relation  to  man's  will,  to  be  under¬ 
stood  ?  Evidently  they  are  to  be  understood  in 
the  same  sense  that  the  loss  of  justice  and  holi¬ 
ness  ”  were  understood  in  regard  to  Keason.  They 
are  to  be  understood  not  as  conveying  the  idea 
that  man's  will,  by  original  sin,  was  “  attenuated 
and  inclined ''  from  what  it  was  in  his  supposed 
state  of  mere  nature,  but  attenuated  and  in¬ 
clined”  in  view  of  the  state  to  which  he  was  ele¬ 
vated  by  the  gifts  and  graces  bestowed  on  him 
over  and  above  his  essential  nature. 

This  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  in  the  first 
draft  of  this  decree,  the  word  wounded  ”  was 
struck  out,  and  the  words  above  put  in  its  place, 
in  order  not  to  convey  the  idea  of  man’s  nature 
having  suffered  by  original  sin  any  thing  more 
than  the  loss  of  the  gratuitous  graces  and  gifts 
bestowed  on  it.  And  it  is  in  this  view  the  words 
injured,”  wounded,”  deteriorated,”  and  such 
like  expressions  should  be  understood  when  used 
in  speaking  of  the  effects  of  the  fall  of  Adam. 

This  becomes  more  evident  from  the  following 
propositions  among  the  forty-one  errors  of  Luther, 
condemned  by  Pope  Leo  the  Tenth,  1520.  The 
thirty-sixth  runs  thus  : — 

Free-Will  after  sin  is  a  thing  with  only  a 
name  j  and  when  it  does  all  that  it  can,  it  sins 
mortally.  ” 


FKEE  -  WILL. 


223 


It  is  still  more  evident  from  the  following 
propositions  of  Bains,  condemned  by  St.  Pius  V. 

Free-Will,  without  the  grace  of  God,  is  able 
to  do  nothing  but  sin.^^ 

All  the  works  of  unbelievers  are  sins,  and  the 
virtues  of  the  philosophers  are  vices.” 

“  He  agrees  with  Pelagius,  who  acknowledges 
any  good,  that  is,  any  good  that  takes  its  nse 
from  the  sole  powers  of  nature.” 

It  follows  plainly,  from  the  condemnation  of 
these  propositions  by  the  Pontiffs  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  that  she  holds  in  just  abhorrence  the 
errors  which  they  inculcate.  It  is  also  evident 
that  she  teaches  that  human  nature  is  not  alto¬ 
gether  good  for  nothing,”  but  has  the  power  to  do 
good,  to  practise  virtue,  and  hence  man  is  respon¬ 
sible  for  his  actions  and  conduct. 

In  upholding  the  truth  of  man's  possessing 
this  supreme  of  gifts,  liberty  of  will,'  her  voice, 
as  ever,  is  consonant  with  the  inmost  voi^»e  of  the 
consciousness  of  every  man's  breast,  which  is  thus 
expressed  by  the  great  poet  of  Christian  : — 

“  Ye  have  that  virtue  in  you,  whose  just  voice 
Uttereth  counsel,  and  whose  word  should  keep 
The  threshold  of  assent.  Here  is  the  source, 

Whence  cause  of  merit  in  you  is  derived  ; 


*  Baina. 


224 


CATHOLICITY. 


E’en  as  the  affections,  good  or  ill,  she  takes, 

Or  severs,  vrinnow’d  as  the  chaff.  Those  men 
Who  reasoning,  went  to  depth  profoundest,  mark’d 
That  innate  freedom  ;  and  were  thence  induced 
To  leave  their  moral  teachings  to  the  world.”* 

The  doctrine  of  Catholicity  on  the  Free-Will 
of  man,  gives  the  basis  for  all  legislation,  and  for 
the  whole  structure  of  human  society.  Whereas, 
let  the  doctrines  of  that  creed  hostile  to  Catho¬ 
licity,  called  Protestantism,  he  followed  hut  for 
a  moment,  and  the  whole  of  society  would  he 
overthrown  from  its  foundations  ;  the  support  of 
every  authority  would  he  undei-mined  ;  and  the 
fountains  of  all  personal,  social,  political,  moral, 
and  religious  virtue  would  be  dried  up.  Not  only 
does  every  man  owe  to  Catholicity  a  debt  of  grati¬ 
tude  for  upholding  the  dignity  of  his  nature,  hut 
society  owes  to  the  Catholic  defence  of  man’s  lib¬ 
erty  of  Will,  its  existence,  its  civilization,  and 
preservation. 

A  Catholic  may,  consistently  with  his  religion, 
claim  the  virtues,  the  deeds  of  self-sacrifice,  and 
acts  of  exalted  heroism  of  every  nation,  of  every 
clime,  of  every  religion,  as  a  part  of  the  inheritance 
of  humanity.  His  religion  extends  his  sympathies 
and  enlarges  his  heart,  by  identifying  his  nature 


*  Dante. 


FREE-WILL. 


225 


with  all  that  is  great,  noble,  and  grand  in  the 
history  of  the  race.  His  voice,  to  use  the  language 
of  St.  Augustine,  may  “join  with  the  shepherds  on 
the  mo.untains,  the  poets  in  the  theatres,  tlie  un¬ 
learned  in  the  circuses,  the  learned  in  their  libra¬ 
ries,  the  masters  in  the  schools,  the  priests  in  the 
temples,  and  the  human  race  over  the  whole 
world,  in  proclaiming  that  man  is  endowed  by  his 
Creator  with  the  noble  gift  of  Liberty  of  Will.” 


ICI* 


XXVl. 


amsn 


“  In  Catholicity  all  is  placed  in  evident  relations  with  Human  Nature 
»nd  the  history  of  the  Universe.” 


De  Maistrb. 


IN  treating  of  the  relations  of  (Jatholicity  to 
Human  Nature,  should  keep  in  mind  the 
doctrines  taught  on  the  same  subject  by  Protest¬ 
antism. 

Orthodox  Protestantism  teaches  that  Human 
Nature  is  in  its  very  essence  wholly  corrupt,  so 
that  man  can  think  nothing  hut  evil,  can  love 
nothing  but  evil,  and  can  do  nothing  but  evil. 

But  what  is  evil?  Evil,’’  to  take  Webster’s 
definition,  is  a  deviation  of  a  moral  agent  from 
the  rules  of  conduct  prescribed  to  him  by  God.” 
Evil  then,  is  the  voluntary  deviation  from 


Ettman  nature. 


227 


\ 

God's  law.  Evil  is  not,  therefore,  a  substance,  a 
being,  or  an  existence,  but  a  mode  of  existence. 
— Evil  is  the  perversion  of  being  or  existence. 

Existence  cannot  be  conceived  otherwise  than 
as  good,  without  outraging  the  divine  perfections 
of  the  Creator.  For  God,  and  He  alone,  is  the 
Author  of  all  real  existences.  To  think  of  the 
essence  of  our  being,  or  existence,  as  whoUy  cor¬ 
rupt,  or  evil,  or  evil  at  all,  is  to  make  God  the 
Author  of  that  which  is  contrary  to  his  Nature. 

Man  is,  and  can  but  be,  essentially  good ;  and 
the  doctrine  of  essential,  or  total  depravity,  taught 
by  Protestantism,  makes  God  the  Author  of  evil. 

A  Free  Agent  may  violate  the  laws  of  his  be¬ 
ing,  and  pervert  habitually  its  activities,  but  these 
remain,  and  ever  will  remain  unimpaired  in  their 
essence.  Satan  is  a  fallen  Angel,  but  still  an 
Angel. 

Man  therefore  is  essentially  good  ;  endowed 
with  Keason,  whose  object  is  truth  ;  and  with 
Free  Will,  whose  object  is  good.  Keason  seeks 
only  to  know  the  true  ;  Free-Will  only  relishes 
the  good.  If  Keason  embraces  error,  it  is  always 
under  the  appearance  of  truth  ;  if  Free-Will  rel¬ 
ishes  evil,  it  is  always  under  the  appearance  of 
good. 

Man  is  good,  and  in  possession  of  all  his  faculties, 


228 


CATHOLICITY. 


which  retain  all  their  natural  power  to  act  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  the  great  end  of  his  being. 

Religion,  therefore,  must  regard  man  as  an  in¬ 
telligent  and  moral  being,  and  act  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  his  mental  and  moral  constitu¬ 
tion.  The  structure  of  Religion  must  find  its 
foundations  in  the  indestructible  elements  of  Hu¬ 
man  Nature. 

If  the  Catholic  Religion  be  consistent  with  her 
own  principles,  she  must  presuppose  Human  Na¬ 
ture  in  all  her  operations  ;  accept  all  its  normal 
instincts  ;  and  adapt  herself  to  its  various  neces¬ 
sities. 

The  attitude  of  the  Catholic  Religion  towards 
Human  Nature  may  be  seen  and  appreciated  from 
the  following  fact  of  Ecclesiastical  History.  On 
the  conversion  of  the  English  people  to  Christian¬ 
ity  by  Saint  Augustine,  the  question  arose,  what 
was  to  be  done  with  the  Pagan  Temples  ?  The 
point  was  referred  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  whose 
reply  was  as  follows  : 

“  The  Temples  of  the  gods  are  not  to  be  de¬ 
stroyed,  but  to  be  cleared  of  their  idols,  purified 
with  holy  water,  adorned  with  altars  enclosing 
relics  of  God’s  Saints.  For  if  the  Temples  were 
well  built  they  ought  to  be  consecrated  as  houses 
of  prayer  of  the  true  God,  in  order  that  the  people. 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


229 


beeing  their  old  Temples  reclaimed,  may  lay  off 
their  errors  with  all  their  hearts,  and  acknowledge 
and  pray  to  the  true  God,  and  attend  so  much  the 
readier  at  their  old  places  of  Worship. * 

The  Catholic  Religion  treats  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  Human  Nature.  Human  Nature  is  well- 
built,  and  consequently  not  to  he  destroyed,  hut 
rectified,  blessed,  adorned  with  celestial  virtues, 
and  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  true,  living 
God.  On  the  same  principle  the  Catholic  Church 
has  changed  several  of  the  pagan  orgies  into  Chris¬ 
tian  festivities.  Just  as  we  find  paintings  of 
Orpheus  playing  on  his  lyre,  and  charming  there¬ 
with  the  birds  and  beasts  of  the  forest,  in  the 
chapels  of  the  early  Christians  in  the  Catacombs 
For  they  saw  in  this  a  truth  illustrative  of  our 
Lord,  who  by  the  gracious  v/ords  that  flowed  from 
His  lips,  softened  the  hard  hearts  of  sinners,  and 
brought  together  into  one  fold  a  people  drawn 
from  among  all  the  nations  of  the  world.f  For 
the  instinct  of  worship  is  natural  to  man  ;  Pagan¬ 
ism  perverted  it  ;  and  Christianity  rectified  it  by 
directing  it  to  its  true  object. 

Thus  Catholicity  embraces  all  the  human 
mind,  accepts  every  truth,  and  welcomes  all  the 
'  instincts  of  our  nature,  for  being  conscious  of  theii 


♦  Bed©  i,  p.  27. 


t  Northcote’s  Roman  Catacombs. 


230 


CATHOLICITY. 


divine  origin,  she  knows  full  well  that  these  can¬ 
not  hut  tend  to  increase  her  honor  and  heauty, 
and  the  glory  of  God. 

How  can  it  he  otherwise,  for  Eeligion  without 
the  instincts  and  activities  of  Human  Nature, 
would  he  a  baseless  fabric,  a  mere  dream.  Since 
Human  Nature  serves  to  Eeligion  as  the  stock 
does  to  the  graft,  the  more  vigorous  Human  Na¬ 
ture  is,  the  more  rapidly  will  Eeligion  develope 
itself,  display  its  celestial  heauty,  and  bring  forth 
more  abundantly  its  divine  fruit. 

Furthermore,  there  is  not  only  a  beautiful 
analogy  between  the  revealed  truths  and  profound 
mysteries  of  Eeligion  and  Human  Nature,  and  so 
recognized  by  the  Church  in  her  exactest  formulas, 
for  instance,  as  the  rational  soul  and  body  is  one 
man,  so  is  God  and  Man  one  Christ,^'  which  is 
found  in  the  Athanasian  Creed  ;  but  there  is  also 
an  element,  or  faculty  of  Human  Nature,  which 
serves  as  a  basis  for  the  most  wonderful  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  F or  Eeligion  adds  no  new  fac¬ 
ulty  to  our  Nature  ;  in  this  regard  Man  was  com¬ 
plete  at  the  instant  of  his  creation.  Eeligion  en¬ 
lightens  and  elevates  the  intelligence,  rectifies  and 
strengthens  the  Will  ;  and  when  this  is  done,  as  it 
sometimes  is,  in  a  wonderful  way,  the  wonders  we 
read  of  in  the  lives  of  the  Saints  come  to  pass 


HUMAF  NATURE 


231 


For  these  wonders  are  not  contrary'  to  Man's  Na¬ 
ture,  nor  altogether  independent  of  his  nature,  but 
God  acting  in  and  through  Human  Nature  in  a 
wonderful  way. 

We  are  not  disposed  to  question  the  harmo¬ 
ny  of  Catholic  doctrine  with  natural  instinct:’ 
says  an  eminent  Catholic  Theologian  ;  on  the 
contrary,  we  believe  that  nature,  in  its  purest  con¬ 
dition,  is  the  foundation  on  which  the  structure 
of  revelation  reposes,  because  God,  the  author  of 
both,  has  planted  in  the  human  breast  sentiments 
and  affections  which  prepare  us  for  his  supernat¬ 
ural  communications.  The  moral  principles,  which 
are  designated  hy  the  name  of  Natural  Law,  are 
the  basis  on  which  the  Divine  Architect  has  plant¬ 
ed  revelation.  Nature,  chastened  and  directed  by 
it,  is  worthy  of  its  Divine  Parent,  who  has  wisely 
provided  for  himself  a  testimony  in  its  instincts. 
When  the  human  mind,  dazzled  by  the  splendor 
of  the  Deity,  turns  towards  created  objects,  and, 
charmed  by  their  seductive  features,  concentrates 
its  affections  in  them,  the  natural  sense  of  the 
power  and  greatness  of  the  Creator,  although  for  a 
time  obscured  and  deadened,  is  not  altogether  ex¬ 
tinct,  so  that  in  sudden  emergencies  even  the  vo¬ 
tary  of  idolatry  gives  sponlaneous  expressions  to 
Nature’s  \oice,  n'cognizing  her  Author,  as  Tertul- 


232 


CATHOLICITY. 


lian  long  since  observed.  Not  to  the  Capitol  does 
he  turn,  nor  is  it  Jupiter  whom  be  invokes  ;  but 
with  eyes  uplifted  towards  the  heavens,  he  cries 
out,  0  God  !  Well  does  the  great  apologist  of 
Christianity  exclaim  on  this  occasion,  ^  0  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  soul,  which  is  naturally  Christian.’’’* 

This  need  be  no  cause  for  surprise,  for  the 
Word  by  whom  all  things  were  made  which  were 
made,  in  whom  was  the  life,  and  the  life  was  the 
light  of  men,”  is  the  same  Word  which  was  Incar¬ 
nated.  The  Word-Creator  cannot  contradict  the 
Word-Incarnate.  God  cannot  contradict  God. 

Human  Nature  when  free  from  prejudice  gives 
unprompted  utterances  in  its  better  moments  to 
doubts  and  cravings,  that  the  teachings  of  Catho¬ 
licity  alone  can  answer  or  its  life  satisfy.  This 
truth  is  made  palpable  by  the  following  passage, 
of  the  import  of  which,  at  the  time  it  was  written, 
and  likely  now,  the  author  is  unaware. 

“  Where  now  sounds  the  persuasive  voice  that 
by  its  melody  imparadises  my  heart,  and  so  affirms 
its  origin  in  heaven  1  Where  shall  I  hear  words 
such  as  in  elder  ages  drew  men  to  leave  all  and 
follow,  —  father  and  mother,  houses  and  lands, 
wife  and  child  ?  Where  shall  I  find  these  august 
laws  of  moral  being  so  pronounced,  as  to  fill  my 


•  Dr.  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick. 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


233 


ear,  and  I  feel  ennobled  by  the  offer  of  my  utter¬ 
most  action  and  passion  ?  The  test  of  the  true 
faith,  certainly,  should  be  its  power  to  charm  and 
command  the  soul,  as  the  laws  of  Nature  control 
the  activity  of  the  hands, — so  commanding  that 
we  find  pleasure  and  honor  in  obeying/"  * 

0  testimony  of  the  soul  naturally  Catholic  ! 
What  your  soul  yearns  to  hear,  and  all  true  souls, 
is  the  voice  of  its  Spiritual  Mother,  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church.  The  persuasive  voice,  and  the 
words  of  elder  ages  you  desire  to  hear  are  hers,  and 
the  august  laws  of  moral  being  she  so  pronounces, 
that  were  you  once  to  give  }  Our  ear  to  her  voice, 
more  tender,  more  maternal  than  a  mother"s,  it 
would  be  filled,  and  you  too  would  feel  ennobled 
by  the  offer  of  your  uttermost  action  and  passion 
Apply  but  your  own  test  of  the  true  faith,  and 
unless  you  wilfully  close  your  eyes,  you  must  see 
this. 

Where  but  in  her  bosom  do  you  find,  from  elder 
ages  to  our  own  day,  men  and  women,  of  every 
nation,  of  eveiy.rank,  of  every  age,  leaving  all, 
father  and  mother,  houses  and  lands,  and  offering 
up  their  uttermost  action  and  passion,  and  feel 
ennobled  while  so  doing  ?  Is  not  this  fact  written 
on  every  page  of  the  annals  of  the  Catholic  Church, 


*  Emerson. 


234 


CATHOLICITY. 


and  borne  witness  to  in  our  own  streets  by  the  Sis¬ 
ters  of  Charity  ?  How  explain  this  incontestable 
fact,  unless  it  be  that  the  Catholic  Church  alone 
has  the  power  to  charm  and  command  the  soul, 
as  the  laws  of  Nature  control  the  activity  of  the 
hands, — so  commanding  that  we  find  pleasure  and 
honor  in  obeying  ?  ’’  Did  it  never  occur  to  the 
author  of  the  above  passage,  and  those  who  share 
the  same  thoughts  and  sympathies,  to  apply  their 
test  of  the  true  faith  to  the  Catholic  Church  ? 

We  accept  unreservedly  their  own  test  of  faith, 
and  reaffirm  that  a  Religion  that  does  not  awaken 
in  man  a  sublime  enthusiasm,  elicit  deeds  of  lofty 
and  heroic  sacrifice,  and  imparadise  the  heart,  fails 
to  affirm  its  origin  in  heaven,  and  comes  from 
elsewhere. 

Most  assuredly  a  Religion  which  can  count  its 
martyrs  by  millions,  and  whose  noble  children 
glory  in  strewing  fresh  branches  of  palm  at  her 
feet,  must  have  so  pronounced  the  august  laws  of 
moral  being,  as  to  fill  their  ear,  and  make  them 
feel  ennobled  by  the  offer  of  their  uttermost  action 
and  passion. 

It  is  a  wonder  that  it  has  not  occurred  to  these 
men  to  ask  the  question  how  the  Catholic  Church 
exercises  her  authority  over  two  hundred  and  more 
millions  of  men  !  What  power  can  unite  in  wor- 


HUMAN  NAT  URE. 


235 

ship  at  the  same  altar  nations  which  differ  as 
widely  as  the  Italian,  the  German,  the  Spaniard, 
the  Englishman,  the  Frenchman,  the  American, 
the  Mexican,  every  nation,  people,  tribe  and  color 
under  the  sun  ? 

Is  it  public  opinion  or  civil  power  that  enables 
her  to  do  this  ?  But  in  the  elder  ages  Catholicity 
triumphed  in  spite  of  public  opinion  and  civil 
power.  It  is  in  spite  of  public  opinion,  the  bitter¬ 
est  and  cruellest  persecution,  and  in  our  day,  that 
ten  millions  of  Catholics  remain  steadfast  in  their 
obedience  to  the  Church  in  the  British  Islands. 

Look  at  this  matter  nearer  home,  and  the  truth 
will  appear  still  more  evident.  Every  man  that  is 
born  here,  is  free-born,  free  to  embrace  whatever 
Religion  he  pleases  ;  he  need  embrace  none,  if  he 
can  get  along  without  any.  Those  who  reach  our 
shores  share  the  same  freedom.  Every  body  knows 
that  to  be  a  Catholic  in  these  United  States  is  no 
title  to  public  favor,  no  mark  that  commands  pub¬ 
lic  respect,  no  distinction  which  excites  envy.  Yet 
in  face  of  all  this,  three  millions  of  Catholics  re¬ 
main  more  attached  to  their  holy  faith  than  to  all 
else  besides  ! 

“  Superstition  and  prejudice  ! "  but  then  why 
do  we  find  men  most  distinguished  for  their  intel¬ 
lectual  gifts,  learning,  and  moral  worth,  the 


236 


CATHOLICITY. 


stanchest  defenders  of  Catholicity  ?  How  is  it 
that  men  whose  prejudices^  education,  sentiments, 
interests,  incline  the  other  way — men  also  of  in¬ 
telligence,  virtue,  learning,  piety — condemn  Prot¬ 
estantism  of  error,  and  reverse  the  movement  oi’ 
the  sixteenth  century,  by  giving  in  their  allegiance 
to  the  authority  of  the  Catholic  Church  ? 

It  is  as  plain  to  intelligent  and  impartial  minds 
as  the  light  of  the  sun  is  to  the  eye  at  noon-day, 
that  no  kaiser,  no  monarch,  no  civil  authority,  no 
prejudice  or  superstition,  can  produce  such  invari¬ 
able  convictions,  such  heroic  actions,  such  world¬ 
wide  and  disinterested  testimony  in  its  favor.  This 
all-embracing  sway  is  the  sole  prerogative  of  Truth, 
of  Divine  Truth.  And  the  only  rational  explana¬ 
tion  which  can  be  given  of  the  deep-rooted  convic¬ 
tion,  and  the  deathless  attachment  of  Catholics  for 
their  faith,  is  that  it  springs  from  the  free  and  en¬ 
lightened  homage  of  the  undivided  intellect  and 
conscience  of  men  to  the  majesty  of  Divine  Truth. 
It  is  the  spontaneous  testimony  of  Human  Nature 
in  favor  of  Catholicity. 

We  have  cordially  accepted  the  offered  test  of 
the  true  faith,  and  on  its  application  have  discov¬ 
ered  that  the  Catholic  Religion  alone  proves  itself 
genuine.  What  hinders  these  gifted  men  from 
seeing  this  ?  Is  it  that  they  have  not  yet  entered 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


237 


on  a  full  possession  of  their  intelligence  to  recog¬ 
nize  it  ? — or  has”  a  deep  and  all-pervading  skepti¬ 
cism  so  palsied  their  minds"  energies,  that  they 
have  lost  the  ability  to  embrace  the  Truth  ? 

Heaven  grant  that  their  splendid  abilities  may 
yet  be  crowned  with  Catholic  faith,  and  their  hon¬ 
est  searches  after  truth  rewarded  with  the  sweet 
fruits  of  Catholic  pie^  > 


XXVii 


nraan  |(atun. 


•  O  Spirit  who  go’at  on  to  blessedness 
With  the  same  limbs  that  clad  thee  in  thy  birth.’  —Daktb. 


The  friendly  relations  of  Catholicity  with  Hu¬ 
man  Nature  are  made  evident  by  the  best  of 
proofs,  the  acknowledgments  of  her  opponents. 

One  party  of  these  do  not  hesitate  to  declare 
that  “  The  Catholic  Keligion  is  a  logical  system  ; 
it  addresses  itself  to  the  intellect ;  hut  it  is  desti¬ 
tute  of  hfe,  feeling,  piety.  The  Komish  Religion 
is  not  the  religion  of  the  heart, they  say,  but 
of  the  logical  faculty.” 

Grrant  this  objection,  what  follows  ?  What  is 
logic  ?  Logic,”  says  Dr.  Watts,  is  the  art  of 
thinking  and  reasoning  justly.”  It  follows  clearly, 
then,  that  Catholicity  is  the  Religion  adapted  to 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


239 


men  who  think  and  reason  justly,  men  whose 
intellectual  faculties  are  ripe,  men  of  intelligence. 

That  the  Catholic  Religion  is  what  these  ob¬ 
jectors  say,  logical,  a  perfect  system  of  kindred 
truths  centred  in  a  sublime  unity,  and  not  an 
incoherent  mass  of  contradictory  opinions,  such  as 
every  mature  mind  must  despise,  can  easily  he 
established. 

The  Catholic  faith,”  so  says  a  Protestant 
writer,  ‘‘  if  we  concede  its  first  axiom,  which  nei¬ 
ther  the  Lutherans  nor  the  Reformed,  nor  even 
the  followers  of  Socinus  denied,  is  an  consistent 
and  as  consecutive  as  the  hooks  of  Euclid.  The 
entire  Romish  religion  is  founded  on  the  fact  of  a 
supernatural  revelation,  designed  for  the  whole 
human  race,  which,  as  it  embraces  all  generations, 
future  as  present,  can  never  be  interrupted  ;  other¬ 
wise  the  sublime  work,  accomplished  by  a  God- 
man,  and  sealed  by  his  blood,  would  be  exposed, 
which  is  contrary  to  the  hypothesis,  to  suffer  and 
eventually  to  perish  by  the  weakness  and  errors 
of  men.  These  consequences  of  the  first  principles 
are  indisputable,  and  there  is  not  a  single  article 
of  Catholic  belief  which  is  not  justifiable,  by  the 
closest  deduction,  from  this  principle.”  * 

“We,  Protestants  as  we  are,”  says  another 

•  GfrOrer.  Kritisoher  Q-oschichte  dos  Urchristenthumes.  B.  1,  p.  16. 


240 


CATHOLICITY. 


writer,  in  speaking  of  the  Catholic  Religion, 
“  when  we  take  in  view  this  wondrous  edifice,  from 
its  base  to  its  summit,  must  acknowledge  that  we 
never  beheld  a  system  which,  the  foundations 
once  laid,  is  laid  upon  such  certain,  secure  prin¬ 
ciples  ;  whose  structure  displays  in  its  minutest 
details,  so  much  art,  penetration,  and  consistency, 
and  whose  plan  is  so  proof  against  the  severest 
criticism  of  the  most  profound  science.*'*' 

Guizot,  the  celebrated  Protestant  historian,  in 
comparing  the  Catholic  Religion  with  the  Protest¬ 
ant,  which  did  not  fully  com^^rehend  and  accept 
its  own  principles,  or  effects,"'  says,  Catholics 
could  point  to  their  first  principles  and  boldly 
admit  all  the  consequences  that  might  result  from 
them.”  f 

A  celebrated  Scotch  metaphysician  gave  the 
substance  of  this  in  reply  to  some  ministers  who 
visited  him  in  his  last  sickness.  Gentlemen,"" 
said  he,  when  they  pressed  the  subject  of  religion 
on  his  attention,  were  I  a  Christian  it  is  not  to 
you  I  should  address  myself ;  but  to  priests  of  the 
Catholic  Church  ;  for  with  them  I  find  premises 
and  conclusion,  and  this  I  know  you  cannot 
ofier.  ’  X 

*  Mwhelneke  Symbollk,  p.  705.  t  Hist  Europ.  Olvll 

$  Compitara. 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


241 


The  conclusion  from  this  testimony  is  a  very 
simple  and  undeniable  one.  It  is,  that  to  become 
a  Christian  on  Catholic  principles  it  is  not  required 
to  set  aside'^  or  to  strangle  Keason  ; on  the 
contrary,  the  Catholic  Religion  solicits  its  just 
exercise,  welcomes  its  sincere  efforts,  and  answers 
admirably  to  all  its  best  convictions.  It  tells  us 
in  plain  language  that  the  Catholic  Religion  opens 
to  men  the  only  way  by  which  they  can,  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  intelligence,  become 
Christians.  It  proclaims  a  very  important  thing 
to  be  known,  to  wit,  that  Catholicity  is  the  only 
Rehgion  for  intelligent  minds,  and  an  enlightened 
people.  It  is  precisely  the  Religion  our  Earnest 
Seeker,^’  in  his  somewhat  defiant  yet  honest  lan¬ 
guage,  demanded. 

Another  class  of  opponents  to  Catholicity 
gravely  inform  us  that  the  Catholic  Religion  is 
the  religion  of  the  senses  and  the  passions  ;  it 
seeks  only  to  excite  the  feelings  and  captivate  the 
imagination ;  its  appeals  are  addressed  to  the 
sentimental  side  of  man’s  nature.” 

Admit  that  the  Catholic  Religion  attracts  the 
senses,  captivates  the  imagination,  and  answers  to 
the  sentimental  side  of  man’s  nature,  and  you  will 
be  obliged,  if  consistent,  to  acknowledge  that 
Catholicity  answers  to  an  essential  and  most  im* 
portant  par  t  of  Human  Nature. 

11 


242 


CATHOLICITY. 


But,  in  all  candor,  should  not  true  Keligion 
answer  to  the  sentimental  side  of  man's  nature  ? 
Is  the  heart  less  the  work  of  God  than  the  head  ? 
Are  the  senses,  the  imagination,  the  feelings,  in 
one  word,  the  heart,  to  take  no  part  in  the  worship 
of  their  all-wise  Giver  ?  Let  us  give  place  here 
to  a  more  able  pen,  and  that  of  a  non-Catholic,  to 
advocate  our  cause. 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  religion  should 
be  an  affection  of  the  heart  as  well  as  a  conviction 
of  the  understanding  ;  because  it  is  to  govern  in  a 
soul  which  is  agitated  by  various  passions,  which  is 
powerfully  solicited  by  the  world,  and  which  is 
prone  to  contract  a  sensual  taint  and  sordid  char¬ 
acter.  These  strong  and  dangerous  propensities 
of  Human  Nature  are  not  to  be  counteracted  by 
mere  speculations  of  the  intellect.  The  heart  must 
be  engaged  on  the  side  of  God  and  duty.  To  sub¬ 
due  the  love  of  the  world  a  nobler  love  must  be 
kindled  within  us.  A  new  and  better  channel 
must  be  formed  for  this  desire  which  we  would  turn 
from  unworthy  ends.  We  cannot,  if  we  would, 
extinguish  the  affections.  Our  safety  consists  in 
directing  their  force  and  energy  to  noble  and  ele¬ 
vated  objects- --to  God,  to  virtue,  and  to  immor¬ 
ality/ 

*  Dr.  Channing'B  Memoirs,  p.  8T& 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


243 


Human  nature  will  never  be  satisfied  with  a 
system  which  does  not  awaken  sentiment  and 
emotion.  Man  has  a  thirst  for  excitement ;  he 
delights  in  the  exercise  of  his  affections,  and  his 
Creator  can  hardly  be  supposed  to  give  him  a 
religion  which  contradicts  this  essential  part  of  his 
nature.'"  * 

Conceding,  then,  the  charges  of  both  these 
parties  against  the  Catholic  Keligion,  it  follows, 
according  to  their  own  showing,  that  it  is  perfectly 
adapted  to  all  man's  nature.  For,  putting  to¬ 
gether  the  intellectual  and  sentimental  faculties 
and  affections  of  men,  you  have  Human  Nature 
whole  and  complete.  Catholicity,  therefore,  is 
that  Religion  which  links  itself  to  all  the  faculties 
of  the  mind,  appropriates  all  the  instincts  of  Hu¬ 
man  Nature,  and  by  thus  concurring  with  the 
work  of  the  Creator,  affirms  its  own  divine  origin. 

The  indulgent  reader  must  not  think  us  cap¬ 
tious  if  we  give  room  here  to  another  objection  tc 
the  Catholic  religion,  since  it  springs  up  naturally 
in  this  place. 

A  class  of  objectors  assert  that  “  Catholicity 
is  nothing  but  heathenism.  Did  not  the  early 
F athers  corrupt  the  Gospel  by  their  study  of  hea¬ 
then  authors,  especially  Plato,  and  the  Doctors  of 


*  Ibid,  p.  879. 


244 


CAT  HOLICITT, 


mediaeval  times  by  their  study  of  Aristotle  ?  The 
Romish  religion  is  nothing  else  than  pagan  idolatry 
tempered  here  and  there  with  a  dash  of  Chris¬ 
tianity/' 

No  one  is  so  ignorant  as  to  need  to  be  told 
that  the  heathen  religion  was  abject^  degrading, 
and  dreadfully  corrupt.  Yet,  even  the  heathen 
were  men  created  by  the  same  hands  which  fash¬ 
ioned  us.  They  were  born  precisely  like  ourselves, 
endowed  with  Reason  and  Free-Will.  They  pos¬ 
sessed  the  same  religious  nature  and  aspirations, 
as  men  born  in  our  day.  The  substance  of  the 
great  truths  of  the  true  Religion  formed  a  part  of 
the  natural  inheritance  of  Reason,  and  the  princi 
pal  moral  laws  were  engraven  upon  the  tablets  of 
their  hearts. 

The  heathen  were  not  altogether  God-forsaken. 
One  may  trace,  without  great  difficulty,  with  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  distinctness,  certain  great 
dogmas  of  Christianity  ;  for  instance,  the  fall  of 
angels  and  that  of  man,  the  expectation  of  a  Re¬ 
deemer,  ^‘the  Desired  of  nations,"  the  necessity 
of  sacrifice,  the  communion  of  the  living  with  the 
departed,  and  connected  with  these,  faint  types  of 
certain  Christian  rites  and  ceremonies." 

Now,  what  seems  reasonable  and  natural  to 
anticipate  is,  that  if  God  should  deign  to  give  to 


HUMAN  NATURE. 


245 


men  a  final  and  perfect  system  of  religious  truth, 
it  would  necessarily  include  and  complete  all  the 
natural  truths,  and  the  truths  received  from  an 
invisible  source,  under  every  form  of  religious  belief 
of  mankind.  And,  therefore,  in  finding  in  Catho¬ 
licity  truths  and  rites  which  were  held  and 
observed,  yet  in  a  corrupted  state,  among  the 
Egyptians,  Greeks,  Romans,  Chinese,  and  other 
nations  of  the  earth,  we  have  in  this  fact  another 
evidence  which  confirms  her  divine  origin  and 
authority. 

There  is  no  brighter  token/'  says  a  Protestant 
Divine,  that  the  Gospel  comes  from  the  great 
Builder  of  the  world,  than  that  it  takes  up  in  the 
scope  of  its  own  design,  and  makes  a  part  of  its 
own  honor,  whatever  goodness  has  come  to  light  in 
the  world  outside  of  its  conscious  kingdom.  The 
moment  this  all-comprehending  and  Catholic  law 
of  life  was  revealed  on  earth  in  Jesus,  all  pre¬ 
existing  morality  seemed  at  once,  by  a  natural 
necessity,  to  become  an  element  in  its  strength. 
All  foreign  loveliness  merged  itself  in  that  tran¬ 
scendent  beauty.  Name  whatsoever  virtue  or 
aspiration  you  might,  it  had  a  niche  provided  foi 
it  in  this  Christian  pantheon  of  the  new  worship. 
By  this  wonderful  assimilative  energy  Christianity 
instantly  appropriated  to  itself  all  the  lawful  forces 


246 


OATHOLICITT. 


of  nature.  It  enthroned  itself  as  the  sovereign  of 
the  world's  experience,  claiming  the  universal  em¬ 
pire  of  divine  right." 

The  author  of  the  above  passage  could  not 
nave  better  described  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
doubtless  it  was  its  history  he  had  in  mind  while 
writing  it,  but  the  word  Gospel "  was  inserted 
to  meet  the  prejudices  of  his  hearers. 

To  give  a  practical  illustration  of  the  principles 
developed  in  this  chapter  and  the  preceding  one, 
in  contrast  with  those  put  forth  by  Protestantism, 
let  us  suppose  a  case. 

Imagine  that  a  young  man,  our  “  Earnest 
Seeker"  for  instance,  should  go  to  a  Protestant 
preacher  to  find  out  what  Christianity  teaches. 
The  preacher,  consistent  with  his  creed,  brings 
forward  the  fundamental  points  of  Protestantism, 
the  total  depravity  of  Human  Nature,  and  justi¬ 
fication  by  faith  alone.  This  he  does  in  order  to 
make,  as  he  thinks,  the  necessity  of  religion  and 
of  a  Saviour  the  more  deeply  felt.  He  developes 
his  ideas,  and  grows  eloquent  in  his  description  of 
man's  corrupt  nature.  All  his  thoughts  are  evil, 
all  his  feelings  are  evil,  all  his  actions  filthy.  The 
good  he  does  partakes  of  the  nature  of  evil.  His 
case  has  been  made  out,  and  he  listens  to  what 


*  Hunttngton’s  Sermons  for  the  People.  ISSft. 


247 


HUMAN  NATURE. 

\ 

his  young  friend  will  say  before  pressing  the  con¬ 
clusion. 

But  lie  replies,  R'everend  Sir,  whether  this  be 
Christianity  or  not,  it  is  not  my  place  to  judge. 
It  however  seems  to  me  that  man's  nature  is  not 
altogether  bereft  of  traces  of  goodness,  and  evi¬ 
dences  of  his  great  Author.  Reason  has  gleams 
of  truth,  and  its  aspirations  leave  him  no  rest  till 
they  are  followed  out  and  realized.  At  times 
noble  and  generous  sentiments  swell  his  bosom. 
He  hates  injustice,  tyranny,  oppression.  Often  he 
does  wrong,  it  is  true,  but  his  conscience  does  not 
fail  to  admonish  and  make  him  feel  wretched  for 
it.  Man  is  by  no  means  an  angel  ;  yet.  Rev.  Sir, 
it  does  not  appear  to  me  that  he  is  totally  de¬ 
praved,  evil,  corrupt — a  very  devil." 

My  young  friend,"  says  the  preacher,  you 
are  altogether  astray.  The  Sacred  Volume  teaches 
no  such  views  as  you  put  forth  concerning  man. 
Too  plainly  it  teaches  the  depravity  of  the  human 
heart.  You  must  not  listen  to.  the  voice  of  a 
subtle  self-love  and  pride.  Believe  God's  holy 
word,  or  there  is  no  escape  from  the  punishment 
of  eternal  death." 

Yet,  Reverend  Sir,  you  surely  cannot  de¬ 
mand  of  me  to  believe  what  contradicts  my  Reason 
and  shocks  the  dictates  of  my  conscience  ?  This 


248 


CATHOLICITY. 


cannot  be  Religion  !  Can  it  be  an  acceptable 
homage  to  the  Author  of  my  being  to  trample 
under  foot  his  noblest  gifts,  Reason  and  Con¬ 
science  ?  No,  sir  ! - 

But  stop  replies  the  preacher,  in  an  ex¬ 
cited  tone,  you  must  use  no  such  language  in 
my  presence.  How  dare  you  set  yourself  up  as 
the  judge  of  God’s  ways,  and  his  Revelation  ! 
Your  language  is  that  of  unregenerated  natures, 
the  man  of  sin.  This  you  must  stifle,  and  listen 
to  God’s  word  only.  You  must  submit  your  Rea¬ 
son  and  Conscience  to  the  Bible,  and  accept  on 
faith  alone,  what  it  teaches,  or  your  portion  will 
be  hell.” 

Let  me  preserve,”  replies  the  Earnest 
Seeker,’'  with  the  feelings  of  an  outraged  nature, 
let  me  preserve.  Reverend  Sir,  my  Reason  and 
my  Conscience,  for  these  I  know  are  God-given, 
and  you  are  welcome  to  your  Christianity.  As 
for  the  future,  Reverend  Sir,  I  would  rather  take 
my  chance  with  a  sound  Reason  and  a  good  Con¬ 
science,  and  risk  your  threatened  hell,  than  accept 
your  Christianity  with  the  prospect  of  your 
heaven  !  ” 

This  is  no  over-drawn  picture,  nor  one  from 
fancy  ;  it  is  an  unvarnished  statement  of  fact ; 
and  not  a  few  young  men  who  have  sought  to 


HUMAN  N  A  TORE. 


249 


satisfy  the  cravings  of  their  religious  nature  by 
Protestantism,  could  tell,  in  the  main,  the  same 
as  an  event  of  personal  experience. 

It  would  be  needless  to  relate,  after  what  has 
been  said,  how  differently  the  Catholic  Priest 
would  meet  such  a  person.  For  the  Catholic  Re¬ 
ligion,  having  the  highest  appreciation  of  Human 
Nature,  recognizes  and  listens  with  reverenee  to  its 
genuine  voice,  welcomes  and  confirms  the  good  it 
finds,  rectifies  and  cultivates  what  is  astray,  and 
re-establishes  man  in  his  true  relations  with 
the  universe,  and  with  God. 

11* 


XXVIII 


» 


Ittstifiratiffn. 

“  Do  not  doubt 

But  to  receive  the  grace,  which  Heaven  vouen  « teu, 

Is  meritorious,  even  as  the  soul 

With  prompt  affection  welcometh  the  guest.’^ 

Dante. 


Before  entering  on  our  present  task,  we  can¬ 
not  refrain  from  remarking  that  it  is  one 
which  is  beset  with  not  a  few  difficulties.  It  will, 
however,  become  much  easier  if  the  indulgent 


reader  will  endeavor  to  recall  what  was  said  on 
Justification  and  Protestantism  in  the  twentieth 
chapter. 

There,  according  to  the  great  lights  of  the 
Reformation  and  the  formulas  of  the  Protestant 
sects,  we  learned  that  “  man  is  justified  by  faith 
alone,  by  which  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  im- 


JUSTIFICATION. 


251 


puted  to  him,  jet  he  still  remains  in  sin,  and  is  as 
black  and  as  ugly  as  the  devil  himself  almost.” 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  and  what  has  been  said 
in  the  foregoing  chapters  on  Catholicity  :  that  the 
Catholic  Keligion  does  not  set  aside  or  conflict 
with  Keason,  but  enlightens,  ennobles,  perfects  it  ; 
and  that  grace,  far  from  taking  from  man  Free- 
Will,  supposes  its  cooperation,  and  gives  to  it  a 
superior  strength  by  which  it  is  elevated  to  a  new 
mode  of  action  ;  with  these  things  present  to  our 
memories,  we  shall  be  able  to  set  aside  many  diffi¬ 
culties,  and  make  our  subject  more  easily  and  bet¬ 
ter  understood. 

To  begin  with  the  beginning  : — What  is  the 
meaning  of  the  wcrd  ^^justification”  in  the  Cath¬ 
olic  sense  of  the  term  ? 

Justification,”  as  described  by  the  Council  of' 
Trent,  and  this  is  the  only  one  of  the  Councils 
which  has  treated  this  point,  consists  in  the 
transferring  of  man  from  that  state  wherein  he 
was  born  a  child  of  the  first  Adam,  to  the  state 
of  grace,  and  of  the  adoption  of  the  sons  of  God, 
through  the  second  Adam,  Jesus  Christ  our 
baviour. 

Man,  by  the  disobedience  of  Adam,  lost  the 
gift  of  sanctifying  grace  which  entitled  him  to  the 


•  Sess.  V.  0.  iv. 


252 


CATHOLICITY. 


beatific  vision  of  God  ;  through  Christ,  tliis  sin  of 
disobedience  is  forgiven,  the  lost  grace  is  restored 
to  man,  and  he  becomes  once  more  the  child  of 
God  and  heir  of  heaven. 

But  how  is  this  change  brought  about  ?  Has 
man  nothing  more  to  do  in  the  matter  than  a  clog 
or  a  stone  ?  Is  this  work  of  justification  some¬ 
thing  altogether  independent  of  man's  coopera¬ 
tion,  as  Protestantism  teaches  ? 

The  Synod  further  declares  that,  in  adults, 
the  beginning  of  the  said  justification  is  to  be 
derived  from  the  preeminent  grace  of  God  through 
Jesus  Christ  .  .  .  that  so  they,  who  by  sins  were 
alienated  from  God,  may  be  disposed,  through  His 
quickening  and  assisting  grace,  to  convert  them¬ 
selves  to  their  own  justification,  by  freely  assenting 
to  and  cooperating  with  that  said  grace  in  such 
sort  that,  while  God  moveth  the  heart  of  man  bj 
the  illumination  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  neither  is  man 
himself  utterly  without  doing  any  thing  while  he 
receives  that  inspiration,  forasmuch  as  he  is  able 
to  rejf^ct  it  ;  yet  is  he  not  able,  by  his  own  free 
will,  without 'the  grace  of  God,  to  move  himself 
unto  J ustice  in  his  sight." 

This  makes  justification  a  mutual  work  between 
God  and  man.  According  to  the  CathoKc  faith, 


•  «L  V. 


JUSTIFICATION. 


253 


God  gives  to  all  men  alienated  by  sin  from  him 
His  quickening  and  assisting  grace  ^Ho  convert 
themselves  to  their  own  justification  ;  and  if 
man  is  not  justified,  it  is  because  he  does  not 
assent  and  cooperate  with  this  grace, but  re¬ 
jects  it.”  Thus,  by  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  justi¬ 
fication,  the  goodness  of  God  is  maintained,  for  he 
gives  the  grace  to  convert  to  all.  The  justice  of 
God  is  maintained,  since,  if  man  is  not  justified, 
it  is  because  he  rejects  the  grace  to  convert.  The 
necessity  of  grace  is  maintained,  for  man  is  not 
able  by  his  own  Free-Will  to  move  himself  unto 
justice  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  dignity  of  man 
is  maintained,  for  the  work  of  justification  can 
only  take  place  by  the  free  assent  and  cooperation 
of  his  will.  Justification,  then,  according  to  the 
teachings  of  the  Catholic  religion,  is  the  result  of 
quickening  and  assisting  grace  and  the  assent  and 
cooperation  of  Free-Will  ;  and  this  doctrine  beau¬ 
tifully  reconciles  the  honor  of  God  and  the  d  ignity 
of  man  in  the  work  of  Salvation. 

As  this  work  of  man^s  justification  is  one  that 
concerns  his  interest  here  and  hereafter  most  inti¬ 
mately — one  of  eternal  felicity,  let  us  follow  up 
closely  the  process  by  which  it  is  fully  accomplished. 

How  they  (adults)  are  disposed  unto  said 
justice,  when,  excited  and  assisted  by  divine  grace, 


254 


CATHOLICITY. 


conceiving  faith  by  hearing,  they  are  freely  moved 
towards  God,  believing  those  things  to  be  true 
which  God  has  revealed  and  promised, — and  this 
especially,  that  God  justifies  the  impious  by  His 
grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  when  understanding  themselves  to  be 
sinners,  they,  by  turning  themselves  from  the  fear 
of  divine  justice  whereby  they  are  profitably  agi¬ 
tated,  to  consider  the  mercy  of  God,  are  raised 
into  hope,  confiding  that  God  will  be  propitious 
to  them  for  Christ's  sake  ;  and  they  begin  to  love 
Him  as  the  fountain  of  all  justice,  and  are  there¬ 
fore  moved  against  sins  by  a  certain  hatred  and 
detestation,  to  wit,  by  that  penance  which  must 
be  performed  before  baptism  ;  lastly,  when  they 
purpose  to  receive  baptism,  to  begin  a  new  fife, 
and  to  keep  the  commandments  of  God."  * 

In  this  manner  God  treats  man  as  a  rational 
and  free-agent  in  the  work  of  restoring  him  to  that 
grace  and  felicity  which  was  lost  by  Adam’s  dis¬ 
obedience.  On  the  one  hand,  we  have  the  won¬ 
derful  and  secret  workings  of  God’s  Spirit,  and  on 
the  other,  the  activity  of  man’s  intelligence  and  the 
free  assent  and  cooperation  of  his  will.  How 
different  from  that  irrational  theology  which  holds 
up  to  our  view  a  God  of  a  stern  and  irresistible 

•  o.  tU. 

9* 


JUSTIFICATION. 


255 


necessity,  and  pictures  man  as  the  entirely  passive 
and  helpless  slave  of  his  despotic  power  ! 

Suppose  these  dispositions  and  preparations  of 
mind  and  heart  have  preceded,  and  the  person 
purposes  to  receive  Baptism,  what  has  that  to  do 
with  justification  ?  Let  the  Council  speak  : — 

“  If  any  one  denies,  that,  by  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  conferred  in  baptism, 
the  guilt  of  original  sin  is  remitted  ;  or  even 
asserts  that  the  whole  of  that  which  has  the  true 
and  proper  nature  of  sin  is  not  taken  away,  but 
says  that  it  is  only  cancelled,  or  not  imputed  ;  let 
him  be  anathema.  For,  in  those  who  are  born 
again,  there  is  nothing  that  God  hates  ;  because, 
there  is  no  condemnation  to  those  who  are  truly 
buried  together  with  Christ  by  baptism  into 
death  ;  who  walk  not  according  to  the  fiesh,  but, 
putting  off  the  old  man,  and  putting  on  the  new, 
who  is  created  according  to  God,  are  made  inno¬ 
cent,  immaculate,  pure,  harmless,  and  beloved  of 
.  God,  heirs  indeed  of  God,  but  joint  heirs  with 
Christ  ;  so  that  there  is  nothing  whatever  to 
retard  their  entrance  into  heaven.  But  this  holy 
Synod  confesses  and  is  sensible,  that  in  the  bap¬ 
tized  there  remains  concupiscence,  or  an  incentive  ; 
which,  whereas  it  is  left  for  our  exercise,  cannot 
injure  those  who  consent  not,  but  resist  manfully 


m 


CATHOLICITY. 


by  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ ;  yea,  he  who  shall 
have  striven  lawfully,  shall  he  crowned.^' 

Baptism,  therefore,  is  the  means  whereby  the 
grace  of  justification  is  communicated  to  the  soul. 
And  this  justification  is  not  something  foreign,’' 
extrinsic,”  imputed,”  or  reputed  ”  to  the  soul, 
but  a  reality,  inherent,  essential,  by  which  we  are 
made  innocent,  immacitlate,  pure,  harmless,  and 
beloved  of  God  !  The  work  of  Christianity  in  this 
way,  is  not  made  out  a  thing  of  mere  appearance 
and  sham,  but  a  real  and  sincere  restoration  of  the 
soul.  Let,  however,  the  Council  explain  further 
this  matter  ;  for  the  truth,  consistency,  and  beauty 
of  its  teachings,  command  our  assent  and  excite 
our  admiration. 

^^Justification,  which  is  not  the  remission  of 
sins  merely,  but  also  the  sanctification  and  renewal 
of  the  inward  man,  through  the  voluntary  recep¬ 
tion  of  the  grace  and  of  the  gifts,  whereby  man  of 
unjust  becomes  just,  and  of  an  enemy  a  friend, 
that  so  he  may  be  an  heir  according  to  hope  of  life 
everlasting.  .  .  .  The  instrumental  cause  is  the 
sacrament  of  baptism,  which  is  the  sacrament  of 
faith,  without  which  faith  no  man  was  ever  justi¬ 
fied  ;  lastly,  the  formal  cause  is  the  justice  of  God, 
not  that  whereby  He  Himself  is  just,  but  thaf 

♦  Ben.  T. 


J  USTIFICATION. 


25*7 


whereby  He  maketh  us  just,  that,  to  wit,  with 
which  we,  being  endowed  by  Him,  are  renewed  in 
the  spirit  of  our  mind,  and  we  are  not  only  reputed, 
but  are  truly  called,  and  are,  just ;  receiving  justice 
within  us,  each  one  according  to  his  own  measure, 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  distributes  to  every  one  as 
Ha  wills,  and  according  to  each  one’s  proper  dis¬ 
position  and  cooperation.  For,  although  no  one 
can  be  just,  but  he  to  whom  the  merits  of  the 
passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  communi¬ 
cated,  yet  is  this  done  in  the  said  justification  of 
the  impious,  when,  by  the  merit  of  that  same 
most  holy  Passion,  the  charity  of  God  is  poured 
forth,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  hearts  of  those 
who  are  justified,  and  is  inherent  therein  ;  whence 
man,  through  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  he  is  in¬ 
grafted,  receives,  in  the  said  justification,  together 
with  the  remission  of  sins,  all  these  gifts  infused 
at  once,  faith,  hope,  and  charity  .  .  .  Wherefore, 
when  receiving  true  and  Christian  justice,  they 
are  bidden,  immediately  on  being  born  again,  to 
preserve  it  pure  and  spotless,  as  the  first  robe 
given  them  through  Jesus  Christ  in  lieu  of  that 
which  Adam,  by  his  disobedience,  lost  for  liimself 
and  for  us,  that  so  they  may  bear  it  before  the 
judgment-seat  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  may 
have  life  everlasting.” 


*  Seas.  vi. 


258 


CATHOLIOITT. 


Thus  justification,  in  the  Catholic  meaning  of 
the  word,  is  the  renewal  of  the  inward  man 
through  the  voluntary  reception  of  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  Grod.  Being  endowed  by  Grod,  we  are 
renewed  in  the  spirit  of  our  mind,  and  we  are  not 
only  reputed,  but  are  truly  called,  and  are,  just, 
receiving  justice  within  us.  The  merits  of  Christ, 
and  the  charity  of  God,  are  poured  forth  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart,  and  are  inherent  therein. 

The  soul  once  more  adorned  with  gifts  and 
graces  of  God,  restored  to  its  ancient  beauty,  and 
elevated  to  the  plane  of  the  grandeur  of  its  sublime 
destiny,  we  are  not  surprised  at  the  saying  of  a 
saint,  that,  could  we  behold  the  beauty  of  a  soul 
in  the  grace  of  God,  we  would  die  for  joy.  Or  of 
another,  who,  on  seeing  a  soul  in  grace,  said  that 
she  would  willingly  die  to  prevent  it  from  losing 
so  great  a  beauty. 

What  a  contrast  with  that  religion  which 
teaches  that  the  ^‘justification  of  the  sinner  is  a 
reputed  one  “  they  are  looked  upon  as  just,  al¬ 
though,  by  virtue  of  corrupt  nature,  they  are  truly 
sinners,  and  remain  so  even  unto  death  ;  “  if  you 

regarded  a  Christian  as  he  is  in  himself,  you  would 
simply  see,  however  holy  he  may  be,  no  purity  at 
all  in  him,  but  you  would  see  him  as  black  and 
ugly  as  almost  the  devil  liimself.”  Yet  such  is 


JUSTIFICATION 


259 


the  absurd,  ridiculous,  horrid  doctrine  of  justifica¬ 
tion  taught  hy  Orthodox,  Evangelical  Protestant¬ 
ism  !  The  Eeformers  were  consistent  in  making 
it  a  prerequisite  to  strangle  Keason  ”  in  order 
to  he  a  Protestant  Christian. 

Connected  with  this  subject  is  the  doctrine  of 
the  merit  of  good  works.  We  have  seen  that 
those  who  set  themselves  up  as  teachers  of  a  puri¬ 
fied  Gospel,  held  that  the  virtues  of  the  pagans 
were  vices  ;  and  that  even  the  works  of  a  justified 
man,  as  the  actions  of  a  corrupt  being,  were  in 
themselves  deadly  sins  ;  and  that  if  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  alone  is  lost,  it  would  be 
all  over  with  them. 

The  Catholic  religion  teaching  that  man  is  in 
possession  of  Keason  and  Free-Will ;  that  justifi¬ 
cation  is  a  real  and  inherent  one  ;  it  cannot  but 
hold  to  the  ability  to  do  good  works,  and  the 
necessity  of  them  both  before  and  after  justifica¬ 
tion. 

Hence  the  Council  of  Trent  condemns  those 
who  say  : — 

That  all  works  done  before  Justification,  in 
whatsoever  way  they  be  done,  are  truly  sins,  or 
merit  the  hatred  of  God.'^  * 

And  also  it  condemns  those  who  say 


•  Sms.  yL 


260 


CATHOLICITY. 


‘‘  That  by  faith  alone  the  impious  is  justified  ; 
in  such  wise  as  to  mean,  that  nothing  else  is  re¬ 
quired  to  cooperate  in  order  to  the  obtaining  the 
grace  of  Justification,  and  that  it  is  not  in  anyway 
necessary,  that  he  he  prepared  and  disposed  by  the 
movement  of  his  own  will/'  ^ 

And  after  Justification,  the  Council  declares 
that  : — 

Before  men  who  have  been  justified  .  .  .  are 
to  be  set  the  words  of  the  Apostle  :  ‘  Abound  in 
every  good  work,  knowing  that  your  labor  is  not 
in  vain  in  the  Lord  ; '  ^  for  God  is  not  unjust,  that 
he  should  forget  your  work,  and  the  love  which 
you  have  shown  in  his  name  ; '  and  ^  do  not  lose 
your  confidence,  which  hath  a  great  reward/ f 
And  for  this  cause,  life  eternal  is  to  be  proposed 
'  to  those  working  well  unto  the  end,  and  hoping  in 
God,  both  as  a  grace  mercifully  promised  to  the 
sons  of  God  through  J esus  Christ,  and  as  a  reward 
which  is  according  to  the  promise  of  God  Himself, 
to  be  faithfully  rendered  to  their  good  works  and 
merits/'  |  .  .  .  And  in  the  canon  on  this  subject 
the  same  Council  declares  that 

If  any  one  saith  that  the  good  works  of  one 
that  is  justified  are  in  such  manner  the  gifts  of 
God,  as  that  they  are  not  also  the  good  merits  of 

■*  Seaa.  vt  t  1  Cor.  xv.  58.  Hebr.  vi.  10.  Ib.  x.  85.  $  S«a8.  vL 


I 


JUSTIFICATION. 


261 


him  that  is  justified  ;  or,  that  the  said  justified, 
by  the  good  works  which  he  performs  through  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  merits  of  J esus  Christ,  whose 
living  member  he  is,  does  not  truly  merit  increase 
of  grace,  eternal  life,  and  the  attainment  of  that 
eternal  life, — if  so  be,  however,  that  he  depart  in 
grace — and  also  an  increase  of  glory  ;  let  him  be 
anathema.'"  * 

The  doctrine  of  justification  thus  presented, 
answers  completely  to  man"s  intellectual  and  moral 
nature.  In  the  first  place  the  intelligence  is  en¬ 
lightened  to  see  the  relations  in  which  man  in  his 
present  condition  stands  to  his  Creator  ;  the  will 
is  excited  to  believe  God's  promises  ;  and  both 
Keason  and  will  cooperate  with  God's  grace  in  the 
soul's  restoration.  And  when  so  restored,  God 
offers  to  it  heaven,  and  an  increase  of  glory,-  on 
condition  of  its  fidehty  and  cooperation  by  good 
works. 

Thus  Catholicity  seizes  hold  of  our  whole 
nature,  puts  all  our  faculties  in  action,  and  directs 
all  our  energies  to  the  attainment  of  our  divinely- 
appointed  end.  Behold  a  Beligion  which  is  con¬ 
sistent  with  purity,  with  justice,  and  with  the 
mercy  of  God  ! 


*  Sesa.  ii 


I 


XXIX. 

IttHhiittalitj. 

“  And  were  the  world  below  content  to  mark, 

And  work  on  the  foundation  nature  lays, 

It  would  not  lack  supply  of  excellence.” 

Dante. 

GKAVE  authors  inform  us,  and  this  piece  of 
information  is  reiterated  again  and  again  by 
the  press,  so  that  through  one  or  the  other  chan¬ 
nel  we  have  it  incessantly  dinned  in  our  ears,  that 
“  the  Komish  religion  oppresses  and  destroys  the 
individuality  of  its  members.  The  individual  is 
made  of  no  account  in  its  system  ;  no  room  is  left 
for  the  free  play  of  personal  action.  Romanism 
governs  with  a  tyrant's  rod  and  sway." 

To  hear  this  language  from  the  lips  of  men  who 
are  the  dupes  of  that  wretched  system  of  religion 
which  comprises  creatures  without  liberty,  doctrines 


INDIVIDUALITY. 


263 


without  common  sense,  faith  without  Keason,  and 
a  God  without  pity,’"  excites  us  indeed,  hut  only 
to  smile.  Surely,  men  who  can  make  such  calum¬ 
nious  charges  against  the  Catholic  religion,  in  an 
enlightened  community,  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
argument  or  the  force  of  facts. 

Gentle  reader,  pass  these  men  by  as  you  would 
a  group  of  disordered  intellects,  and  let  them  gnarl 
on  in  token  of  the  galling  chains  from  which  they 
suffer,  and  be  not  weary  to  pause  here  awhile  and 
consider  how  beautifully  Catholicity  brings  out 
man’s  individuality,  and  gives  a  free  and  various 
field  for  the  display  of  his  manifold  faculties. 

Every  faculty  of  the  soul,  rightly  exercised, 
leads  to  truth  ;  every  instinct  of  our  nature  has  an 
eternal  destiny  attached  to  it.  Catholicity  finds 
her  support  in  these,  and  employs  them  in  all  her 
developments.  It  is  one  of  her  fundamental 
principles  to  welcome,  sanction,  and  encourage 
individual  exertion.  Witness  her  countless  variety 
of  religious  orders,  for  men  and  women,  congrega¬ 
tions,  confraternaties,  sodalities,  adapted  to  the 
peculiar  bent,  tastes,  and  qualities  of  all  classes 
of  individuals. 

Religion,  justly  viewed,”  says  Dr.  Channing, 
and  in  so  speaking  he  describes  the  Catholic  reli- 
erion  beautifully,  surnasses  all  other  nrincinles, 


264 


CATHOLICITY, 


in  giving  free  and  manifold  action  to  the  mind. 
It  recognizes  in  every  faculty  and  sentiment  the 
workmanship  of  God,  and  assigns  a  sphere  of 
agency  to  each.  It  takes  our  whole  nature  under 
its  guardianship,  and  with  a  parental  love,  minis¬ 
ters  to  the  inferior  as  well  as  to  the  higher  grati¬ 
fications.  False  religion  mutilates  the  soul,  sees 
evil  in  our  innocent  sensibilities,  and  rules  with  a 
tyrant^s  frown  and  rod.  True  religion  is  a  mild 
and  lawful  sovereign,  governing  to  protect,  to  give 
strength,  to  unfold  all  our  inward  resources.’'  * 

As  the  truth  is  more  plainly  seen,  when  con¬ 
trasted  with  error,  let  us  compare  the  Protestant 
religion  with  the  Catholic  on  this  most  interesting 
point. 

Every  observer  has  been  not  seldom  surprised 
at  the  variety  of  mental  and  moral  tastes  and  dif¬ 
ferences  of  character  among  men  ;  and  even 
among  those  who  devote  themselves  to  religion. 
What  a  difference  among  even  the  patriarchs  and 
prophets  of  old,  and  equally  so  among  the  apostles 
of  Christianity  !  In  what  light  does  the  Protes¬ 
tant  religion  regard  these  peculiarities  and  differ¬ 
ences  of  vocation  among  men  ? 

Suppose  there  be  one  whose  eyes  are  turned 
towards  eternity,  and  listening  to  the  words  of  the 


♦  Vol.  II  »).  211. 


INDI  V  IDU  ALITl 


265  ' 


Divine  Master,  What  shall  a  man  give  in  ex- 
change  for  his  soul  ?  would  renounce  all,  and 
give  himself  up  entirely  to  his  eternal  interests 
what  encouragement  would  he  find  in  Protestant¬ 
ism  ?  Take  another  who  intently  regards  his 
Master’s  sufferings,  fastings,  self-denial,  and  pov¬ 
erty,  and  hears  as  if  from  His  own  lips  the  words. 

Take  up  the  cross  and  follow  me,”  what  sympa¬ 
thy  would'such  a  one  find  in  reformed  Christianity? 
Another  recognizes  God  in  the  poor,  the  sick,  the 
down-trodden,  the  wretched  ;  and  the  words  of  the 
Lord  touch  her  heart,  “  As  often  as  you  do  this  to 
the  least  of  these  you  do  it  unto  me  ;  ”  and  she 
would  devote  her  whole  life  and  all  her  energies  to 
their  service  for  love  of  Jesus  :  what  help  and  sanc¬ 
tion  would  she  find  in  the  religion  of  the  Keforma- 
tion  ?  Another,  like  St.  J ohn  the  Baptist,  would 
retire  into  the  desert  or  live  among  the  rocks,  the 
wild  flowers,  the  old  oaks  or  majestic  palms,  and 
among  the  beauties  of  nature  lift  up  his  soul  to 
gaze  on  the  beauty  of  its  Author  ;  what  considera¬ 
tion  would  Protestant  Christianity  bestow  upon 
such  a  one  ?  Imagine  another  taken  with  love 
for  the  divine  virtue  of  virginity,  would  follow  hoi 
Lord  and  his  beloved  disciple  in  their  saintly  steps, 
and  vows  her  virgin  soul  to  God  ;  how  would  Pro¬ 
testantism  look  upon  that  ?  But  we  mu»t  stop 
12 


266 


CATHOLICITY 


for  there  is  no  end  to  the  wonderful  variety  of 
vocations,  and  Grod's  views  in  regard  to  men,  and 
ask  our  question  :  Would  Protestantism,  in  her 
development,  employ  these  devoted  men  and 
women,  sanction  their  divine  call,  and  encourage 
them  to  fidelity  ?  Or  would  it  look  down  upon 
them  in  derision,  and  with  a  contemptuous  smile 
treat  them  as  crack-brained  enthusiasts  ? 

Every  man  who  has  ever  known  what  Pro¬ 
testantism  is,  knows  full  well  that  it  chills  the 
generous  impulses  of  the  soul,  and  has  no  concep¬ 
tion  of  an  heroic  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  God  and  the  welfare  of  man. 

These  views  are  every  day  driving  distin¬ 
guished,  and  gifted,  and  enthusiastic  women  into 
the  pale  of  that  church,  which  stretches  out  its 
arms,  and  says  :  Come  unto  me,  ye  who  are 
troubled,  ye  who  are  idle,  and  I  will  give  you  rest 
and  work,  and  with  these  sympathy  and  reverence, 
the  religious  sanction,  direction,  and  control  !  ’ 
Can  we  find  nothing  of  all  this  for  our  women  ? 
Why  should  they  thus  go  out  from  us  ?  I,  for 
my  part,  do  not  understand  it.'’ 

Now  let  us  cast,  a  glance  on  the  other  side, 
and,  lest  we  may  he  accused  of  exaggeration, 
another  pen,  and  a  Protestant  one,  shall  draw  the 
contrast  : — 

*  Mrs.  Jamefton's  Slatara  of  Oharcj. 


INDIVIDUALITY. 


267 


“Far  different  is  the  policy  of  Rome.  The 
ignorant  enthusiast  whom  the  Anglican  Church 
makes  an  enemy,  and,  whatever  the  learned  and 
polite  may  think,  a  most  dangerous  enemy,  the 
Catholic  Church  makes  a  champion.  She  bids 
him  nurse  his  beard,  covers  him  with  a  gown  and 
hood  of  coarse  dark  stuff,  ties  a  rope  around  his 
waist,  and  sends  him  forth  to  teach  in  her  name. 

“  He  costs  her  nothing.  He  takes  not  a  ducat 
from  the  revenues  of  her  beneficed  clergy.  He 
lives  by  the  alms  of  those  who  respect  his  spiritual 
character,  and  are  grateful  for  his  instructions. 
He  preaches  not  exactly  in  the  style  of  Massillon, 
but  in  a  way  which  moves  the  passions  of  unedu¬ 
cated  hearers  ;  and  all  his  influence  is  employed  to 
strengthen  the  church  of  which  he  is  a  minister. 
To  that  church  he  becomes  as  strongly  attached 
as  any  of  the  cardinals  whose  scarlet  carriages  and 
liveries  crowd  the  entrance  of  the  palace  on  the 
Quirinal.  In  this  way  the  Church  of  Rome  unites 
in  herself  all  the  strength  of  an  establishment  and 
all  the  strength  of  dissent.  With  the  utmost 
pomp  of  a  dominant  hierarchy  above,  she  has  all 
the  energy  of  the  voluntary  system  below.  Even 
for  female  agency  there  is  a  place  in  her  system. 
To  devout  women  she  assigns  spiritual  functions, 
dignities,  and  magistracies.  In  our  country,  if  a 


268 


CATHOLICITY 


noble  lady  is  moved  by  more  than  ordinary  zea 
for  the  propagation  of  religion,  the  chance  is,  thai 
though  she  may  disapprove  of  no  one  doctrine  oi 
ceremonv  of  the  Established  Church,  she  will  end 
oy  giving  her  name  to  a  new  schism.  If  a  pious 
and  benevolent  woman  enters  the  cells  of  a  prison 
to  pray  with  the  most  unhappy  and  degraded  of 
her  own  sex,  she  does  so  without  any  authority 
from  the  church.  No  line  of  action  is  traced  out 
for  her  ;  and  it  is  well  if  the  ordinary  does  not 
complain  of  her  intrusion,  and  if  the  Bishop  does 
not  shake  his  head  at  such  irregular  benevolence. 
At  Kome  the  Countess  of  Huntington  would  have 
a  place  in  the  calendar,  as  St.  Selma,  and  Mrs. 
Fry  would  be  the  foundress  and  first  Superior  of 
the  Blessed  Order  of  Sisters  of  the  jails. 

“  Place  Ignatius  Loyola  at  Oxford  ;  he  is  cer¬ 
tain  to  become  the  head  of  a  formidable  secession. 
Place  John  Wesley  at  Borne  ;  he  is  certain  to  be 
the  first  general  of  a  new  society  devoted  to  the 
interests  and  honor  of  the  church.  Place  St. 
Theresa  in  London  ;  her  restless  enthusiasm  fer¬ 
ments  into  madness,  not  untinctured  with  craft. 
She  becomes  the  prophetess  and  mother  of  the 
faithful,  holds  disputations  with  the  devil,  issues 
sealed  pardons  to  her  adorers,  and  lies-in  of  the 
Shiloh.  Place  Joanna  Southcote  at  Borne.  She 


INDIVIDUALITY. 


269 


founds  an  order  of  barefooted  Carmelites,  everv 
one  of  whom  is  ready  to  suffer  martyrdom  for  the 
church — a  solemn  service  is  consecrated  to  her 
memory,  and  her  statue,  placed  over  the  holy 
water,  strikes  the  eye  of  every  stranger  who  enters 
St.  Peter’s.” 

If  this  he  so,  and  where  is  there  one  to  deny  or 
gainsay  its  truth  ?  then  the  Catholic  religion,  so 
far  from  crushing  man’s  individuality  and  inde¬ 
pendence^  is  wonderfully  calculated  and  adapted 
to  call  forth,  sustain,  and  perfect  the  tastes,  pro¬ 
pensities,  and  peculiarities  of  human  nature.  And 
let  no  one  venture  to  say  that  these  characteristics 
which  are  every  where  found  among  men,  are  to  be 
repressed  rather  than  encouraged.  This  is  to  despise 
human  nature.  This  is  to  mar  the  work  of  God, 
For  are  not  these  peculiarities  inborn  ?  Are  they 
not  implanted  in  us  by  the  hand  of  our  Creator  ? 
Are  they  not  what  go  to  constitute  our  very  in¬ 
dividuality  ?  That  our  author  above  has  given  a 
correct  view  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  confirmed 
by  a  distinguished  writer  of  our  own  country  : — 

“  The  Komish  religion,”  so  says  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Channing,  calls  itself  one  ;  but  it  has  a 
singular  variety  of  forms  and  aspects.  For  the 
lover  of  forms  and  outward  religion  it  has  a  gor- 


♦  MacanlAj. 


270 


CATHOLICITY. 


geous  ritual.  To  the  mere  man  of  the  world  it 
shows  a  Pope  on  the  throne,  Bishops  in  palaces, 
and  all  the  splendor  of  earthly  dominion.  At  the 
same  time  for  the  self-denying  ascetic,  mystical 
and  fanatical,  it  has  all  forms  of  monastic  life.  To 
him  who  would  scourge  himself  into  godliness,  it 
offers  a  whip.  To  him  who  would  starve  himself 
into  spirituality  it  provides  the  mendicant  convents 
of  St.  Francis.  For  the  anchorite  it  prepares 
the  death-hed-like  silence  of  La  Trappe.  To  the 
passionate  young  woman  it  presents  the  raptures  of 
St.  Theresa,  and  the  marriage  of  St.  Catherine  with 
her  Saviour.  For  the  restless  pilgrim  whose  piety 
needs  a  greater  variety  than  the  cell  of  the  monk, 
it  offers  shrines,  tombs,  relics,  and  holy  places  in 
Christian  lands,  and  above  all  the  holy  sepulchre 
near  Calvary.  To  the  generous,  sympathizing 
enthusiast,  it  opens  some  fraternity  or  sisterhood 
of  charity.  To  him  who  inclines  to  take  heaven 
by  violence,  it  gives  as  much  penance  as  he  can 
ask  ;  and  to  the  mass  of  men,  who  wish  to  re¬ 
concile  the  two  worlds,  it  promises  purgatory,  so 
far  softened  down  by  the  masses  of  the  priest  and 
the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  that  its  fires  can  be 
anticipated  without  overwhelming  dread.  This 
composition  of  forces  in  the  Romish  Church,  seems 
to  me  a  wonderful  monument  of  skill.  When  in 


INDIVIDUALITY. 


271 


Rome,  the  traveller  sees  by  the  side  of  the  purple¬ 
lackeyed  cardinal,  the  begging  friar  ;  when  under 
the  arches  of  St.  Peter,  he  sees  a  coarsely  dressed 
monk  holding  forth  to  a  ragged  crowd,  or  when 
beneath  a  Franciscan  church,  adorned  with  the 
most  precious  works  of  art,  he  meets  a  charnel- 
house  where  the  bones  of  the  dead  brethren  are 
built  into  walls,  between  which  the  living  walk 
to  read  their  mortality,  he  is  amazed,  if  he  gives 
himself  time  for  reflection,  at  the  inflnite  variety 
of  machinery  which  Catholicism  has  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  human  mind,  at  the  sagacity  with 
which  it  has  adapted  itself  to  the  various  tastes 
and  propensities  of  human  nature.'" 

Acknowledgments  of  this  kind,  from  such 
sources,  form  an  all-sufficient  refutation  of  the 
charge  that  Catholicity  restrains  man's  personal 
activity,  cramps  his  genius,  and  crushes  out  all  his 
individuality  and  feeling  of  personal  independence. 
At  the  same  time  we  must  acknowledge,  that  the 
doctor  passes  on  Catholics  a  compliment  for  saga¬ 
city  "  for  which,  if  it  be  meant,  they  ought  to  be 
under  the  greatest  obligations.  To  attribute  this 
‘‘  adaptation  of  itself  to  the  various  tastes  and 
propensities  of  human  nature  "  to  the  sagacity  of 
Catholics,  is  not  usual  for  Protestants.  In  the 

•  Vol  ii  pp.  273-4nB. 


I 


272 


CATHOLICITY. 


name  of  our  common  manhood  and  intelligencej 
is  all  skill  and  sagacity  in  religion  confined  to 
these  Catholics  ?  One  can  hardly  believe  that  the 
doctor  intended  so  great,  so  extravagant  a  com¬ 
pliment  as  his  words  import.  For  never  before 
Catholicity,  never  alongside  of  Catholicity,  was 
there  such  an  infinite  variety  of  machinery 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  human  mind."^  It  is 
truly  amazing."'  Our  bosoms  swell  with  a  just 
pride  at  the  very  thought  of  it.  Hereafter  let  the 
world  cease  to  wag  its  slanderous  tongue  by  charg¬ 
ing  the  Catholic  Church  with  crushing  man's 
individuality,  benumbing  his  activity,  and  making 
him  a  slave.  We  accept  the  compliment  ;  but 
our  readers  must  not  think  us  over-suspicious 
when  we  tell  them  that  it  is  our  honest  opinion, 
the  distinguished  w^riter  did  not  really  and  sin¬ 
cerely  mean  it.  It  must  be  regarded  as  an 
expedient  to  escape  the  humiliating  acknowledg¬ 
ment  of  truth — the  truth  that  the  Catholic 
Church  could  not  have  shown  such  an  adaptation 
to  the  variety  of  tastes  and  propensities  of  human 
nature,  unless  guided  by  a  higher  intelligence,  and 
instinct  with  a  sagacity  more  than  human. 

That  it  is  not  human  sagacity  which  brings 
these  things  about,  is  plain  from  the  strenuous 
efforts  and  frequent  experiments  which  have  been 


INDIVIDUALITY. 


273 


made  to  copy  these  adaptations  among  Piotes- 
tants,  and  the  fact  that  they  have  been  met  with 
nothing  hut  disappointment  and  most  signal  fail¬ 
ure.  For  with  all  its  attempts  it  has  as  yet  failed 
to  produce  even  one  Sister  of  Charity.  How  im¬ 
portant  and  necessary  this  variety  of  adaptations 
is  to  the  carrying  on  of  God's  work,  and  how  eager 
Protestants  would  he  to  have  it  among  themselveSj 
were  it  possible,  is  evinced  most  forcibly  in  a 
recent  charge  of  a  Protestant  bishop  to  his  clergy. 

We  must,"  he  says,  ‘‘  look  upon  the  church 
not  merely  as  a  sacred  monument,  but  also  as  a 
working  organism  ;  as  the  great  agent  placed  in 
the  world  to  redeem  the  world.  We  must  catch 
the  spirit  of  enterprise  which  now  vitalizes  society, 
and  aim  at  doing  great  things  ;  we  must  have 
enough  of  elasticity  to  adapt  ourselves  to  all  the 
various  phases  of  social  life,  and  be  able  sometimes 
to  bend  without  breaking.  The  church  should 
be  as  much  at  home  in  the  wilds  of  Nebraska,  and 
speak  as  directly  to  the  living  wants  of  those 
remote  regions,  as  she  does  to  the  refined  congre¬ 
gations  of  the  metropolis.  We  must  find  a  place 
for  men  of  all  varieties  of  temperament,  and  give 
to  each  just  that  work  to  do  for  which  he  is  the 
best  fitted.  We  must  face  the  real  evils  of  soci¬ 
ety,  and  so  exhibit  the  church  that  the  poor  will 
12* 


274 


CATHOLICITY. 


look  to  her  as  their  helper,  the  outcast  look  to  hei 
as  their  comforter.  The  establishment  of  our  tree 
churches,  hospitals,  mutual  relief  societies,  and 
the  like,  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  indications  of 
the  church.  This  movement  will  do  more  to  com¬ 
mend  her  to  public  favor  than  all  the  arguments 
that  ever  were  written.""'  Suppose,  now,  that 
all  this  Protestant  Episcopalian  bishop  says  we 
must  do  "  were  done,  what  would  be  accomplished  ? 
Why,  a  miniature,  and  that  imperfect,  of  what  the 
Catholic  Church  has  always  done,  and  always  will 
do  until  the  end  of  time.  But  those  who  are  read 
in  the  history  of  Protestantism  and  its  efforts, 
know  full  well  that  it  possesses  a  demoniac  power 
to  pull  down,  but  is  utterly  helpless  and  inefidcient 
to  build  up. 

The  truth  seems  to  me  to  amount  to  this," 
says  a  Protestant  writer,  that  the  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic  Church  has  had  the  good  sense  to  turn  to 
account,  and  assimilate  to  itself,  and  inform  with 
its  own  peculiar  doctrines,  a  deep-seated  principle 
in  our  Human  Nature, — a  law  of  life,  which  we 
Protestants  have  had  the  folly  to  repudiate."  f 

That  Catholicity  gives  full  scope  and  freedom 
to  individual  action,  is  seen  on  a  broader  scale  in 
the  characteristics  of  Catholic  nations.  For  though 

Dr.  Clarke,  Bialiop  of  E.  L  t  Mrs.  Jameson's  Bisters  of  Cliaritjr. 


INDIVIDUALITY. 


275 


she  makes  all  men  Catholic,  yet  at  the  same  time 
tjiey  lose  nothing  of  their  individual  or  national 
virtues.  Italy,  Spain,  Germany,  France,  Ireland, 
Belgium,  are  all  Catholic  nations,  yet  how  widely 
different  in  their  personal  and  national  character  I 
Can  one  imagine  a  wider  difference  than  that 
which  exists  between  the  passionate,  lively,  and 
choleric  Italian  and  the  slow,  grave  and  philo¬ 
sophic  German  ?  What  a  difference  between 
the  sombre,  stately,'  inflexible  Spaniard,  and  the 
gay,  affable,  plastic  Frenchman  !  Compare  the 
warm-hearted,  cheerful,  all-enthusiastic  Irishman 
with  the  quiet,  steady,  sedate  Belgian.  Yet 
these  are  nations  that  have  been  under  Catholic 
influences  from  the  cradle  of  their  civilization. 
How  strikingly  they  have  preserved  all  their  na¬ 
tional  features,  national  virtues,  national  exist¬ 
ence  !  Indeed  the  Catholic  Keligion  is  the  only 
religion  which  preserves  the  individuality  of  per¬ 
sons  as  well  as  the  characters  of  nations.  Alas  ! 
there  was  a  time  when  England  had  a  national 
character,  and  that  was  when  she  was  under  the 
healthful  influences  of  Catholicity  ;  —  England 
then  was  merry,  renowned  for  her  piety  and  re¬ 
ligious  institutions.  What  is  England  renowned 
for  now  ?  Sadness,  impiety,  ginshops,  workhouses, 
and  factories. 


276 


C  A.THOLIC  ITT. 


What  a  change  !  A  nation  that  under  Catb 
olio  influences  was  called  par  excellence  merry, 
now,  under  antagonistic  influences,  so  far  from  be¬ 
ing  merry,  that  hypochondria  is  treated  of  by  their 
own  medical  writers  under  the  title  of  “  the  Eng¬ 
lish  malady/'  A  nation  which  once  was  looked 
upon  as  a  beautiful  garden,  studded  as  it  was  with 
its  magnificent  churches  and  glorious  abbeys,  now, 
with  all  its  wealth,  and  all  the  exertions  of  late 
years  in  the  way  of  church-building,  does  not  pos¬ 
sess,  and  it  is  an  English  Protestant  writer  who 
declares  it,  the  number  or  near  it  of  churches 
which  existed  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation." 
Well  may  we,  in  tones  of  pity  and  sympathy,  join 
the  same  writer  in  singing  : — 


Oh,  the  good  old  times  of  England  :  ere  in  her  evil  day 

From  their  holy  faith  and  her  ancient  rites  her  people  feh 
away, 

When  her  gentlemen  had  hands  to  give,  and  her  yeomen 
hearts  to  feel, 

And  they  raised  full  many  a  bead-house,  but  never  a  bastile 

And  the  poor  they  honored,  for  they  knew  that  He  who  for 
us  bled. 

Had  seldom  when  he  came  on  earth  whereon  to  lay  his  head. 

Bat  times  and  things  are  altered  now,  and  Englishmen  begin 

Tc  class  the  beggar  with  the  knave,  and  poverty  with  sin. 


INDIVIDUALITY. 


277 


We  shut  them  up  from  tree  and  flower,  and  from  the  blessed 
sun, 

We  tear  in  twain  the  hearts  that  God  in  wedlock  had  made 
one. 

No  gentle  Nun  with  transport  sweet,  no  Friar  standeth  nigh 
With  ghostly  strength  and  holy  love  to  close  the  poor  man’s 
eye, 

But  the  corpse  is  thrown  into  its  ground,  when  the  prayers 
are  hurried  o’er, 

To  rest  in  peace  a  little  while,  and  then  make  room  for  more.* 

Thus  on  the  one  hand,  we  have  Protestantism 
denying  to  man  all  that  goes  to  make  him  a  man, 
repudiating  his  nature,  mutilating  his  faculties, 
and  destroying  all  elevated  personal  and  national 
character  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  Cath¬ 
olicity  calling  forth  all  man's  slumbering  powers, 
sustaining  their  action,  and  giving  a  full  liberty, 
and  her  benediction  to  his  individual  exertions  ; 
offering  to  every  one  a  place  for  his  activity  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  his  tastes  and  genius,  and  teaching 
him  that  he  serves  God  by  sanctifying  his  nature 

*  Hierolof  hj  Ber.  J  M. 


XXX. 

Unibusslitg, 

“  Of  all  seeds 

This  holy  plain  is  filled,  and  in  itself  bears  fimlt 
That  ne’er  was  plucked  on  other  soil.” 

Dautb. 

IT  would  seem  tliat  nothing  further  remains  to 
he  said  on  the  Catholicity  of  the  Church,  after 
having  exhibited  its  exquisite  adaptation  to  the 
inborn  faculties,  tastes,  characteristics,  and  genius 
as  well  of  individuals  as  of  nations. 

But  man  has  aspirations  and  sympathies  which 
are  boundless  in  their  reach,  and  cannot  he  com 
fined  to  himself,  to  a  family,  or  even  to  a  nation 
Humanity  is  not  a  word  without  meaning,  hut  one 
which  may  he  so  pronounced  as  to  inspire  men 
with  a  wonderful  enthusiasm,  and  stir  them  up  to 
noblest  enterprises.  Man  is  not  fully  conscious  of 
the  greatness  of  his  manhood,  until  he  is  so  engaged 


I 


UNIVERSALITY. 


279 


in  purposes  which  embrace  the  welfare  of  the 
'  whole  human  race,  as  to  sink  in  these  all  lower 
instincts.  The  highest  aim  of  man  is  to  live  for 
God,  and  to  labor  for  the  universal  welfare  of 
mankind.  Nothing  less  than  this  can  satisfy 
man^s  noblest  instincts  and  fill  his  large  heart. 
His  mind  demands  to  know  universal  truth  ;  his 
heart  craves  universal  love  ;  his  will  demands  to 
act  for  universal  ends. 

Such  is  man,  and  what  has  Protestantism  done 
to  answer  to  these  all-expansive  and  most  enno¬ 
bling  instincts  ?  The  realm  of  universal  truth  it 
nas  broken  to  fragments,  created  wrangling  sects, 
and  made  a  desert  in  the  mind.  For  universal 
sympathy  it  has  caused  countless  dissensions,  end¬ 
less  disputes,  and  perfect  isolation,  making  a  void 
m  the  heart.  For  the  universal  aims  of  men,  it 
has  confined  man's  aim  to  himself,  and  to  the 
development  of  those  instincts  which  he  has  in 
common  with  the  animal,  making  the  will  the  slave 
to  self-gratification.  This  is  what  the  glorious 
Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  has  done  for 
humanity.  And  enlightened  men,  who  have  no 
prejudice  to  serve,  no  selfish  interest  to  sway  theii 
judgments,  who  have  the  cause  of  truth  at  heart, 
see  it,  proclaim  it,  and  seek  for  a  religion  adequate 
to  their  wants. 


280 


0  ATHOLICITT. 


It  is  tlie  discovery  of  this  fact  that  has  led  so 
many  gifted  and  learned  men  from  every  depart¬ 
ment  of  science  and  of  art,  to  return  to  the  bosom 
of  that  Church  which,  in  spite  of  the  utmost  efforts 
of  her  enemies,  alone  hears,  as  she  has  from  early 
ages  borne,  the  title  of  Catholic. 

Were  those  men  of  recognized  merit,  out  of 
every  department  of  science  and  of  art,  who,  even 
in  our  own  day,  have  become  converts  to  the 
Catholic  faith,  classified, — we  should  he  forced  to 
recognize  in  their  conversion  a  voluntary  and  com¬ 
plete  homage  of  the  highest  forms  of  truth  to  the 
Cathohcity  of  the  Church.  Only  within  the  Cath¬ 
olic  Church  are  found  the  theologian  and  the 
philosopher,  the  statesman,  the  artist,  and  the  man 
of  science,  combined  in  their  efforts  to  demonstrate 
the  same  great  truths,  and  express  the  same  divine 
beauty. 

AU  truths  of  science  find  in  her  a  welcome  ; 
every  work  of  art  has  in  her  temples  its  own 
appropriate  niche.  It  would  take  us  too  long  to 
give  a  complete  demonstration  of  this  statement  ; 
we  must  therefore  confine  ourselves  to  art,  and  art 
in  its  various  forms  of  expression.  The  Catholic 
Church  has  always  been  true  to  art,  and  alone 
consecrates  the  works  of  genius  to  the  noblest  of 
purposes,  the  divine  service  of  God.  What  more 


UNIVERSAL  IT  Y. 


281 


ennobling  thought  can  inspire  the  true  artist  than 
that  the  fruits  of  his  labor  are  consecrated  by 
Religion,  and  employed  in  her  worship  to  elevate 
less  gifted  souls  to  the  contemplation  of  that  sub¬ 
lime  ideal  which  he  has  endeavored  to  embody  in 
sensible  forms  ?  Can  the  artist  have  a  higher 
aim  than  to  raise  up  the  common  mind  to  gaze 
upon  that  divine  beauty  which  feeds  his  soul,  and 
more  than  rewards  him  for  his  toil  and  sacrifices  ? 

I 

Does  not  this  realize  his  holiest  aspirations  and 
largest  sympathies  ? 

Perish  the  creed  that  would  shut  out  from  its 
temples  the  works  of  God's  noblest  gifts  to  man  ; 
and  an  eternal  warfare  on  the  worship  that  would 
deprive  men  of  those  heaven-inspired  aids  by  which 
the  mind  is  enabled  to  gaze  on  the  original  of  all 
that  is  true,  good,  and  beautiful. 

Catholicity  does  not  limit  itself  to  the  appro¬ 
priation  of  the  noble  productions  of  genius  in  her 
temples  ;  it  does  more  ;  it  inspires  genius  with  the 
highest  and  most  noble  conceptions.  Art  is  the 
spontaneous  expression  of  all  the  great  original  sys¬ 
tems  of  religion  adopted  by  the  human  race.  It 
is  religion  that  has  given  birth  to  art  in  Egypt, 
Greece,  ancient  and  modern  Rome,  Italy,  Germany, 
and  France.  The  temples,  the  statues,  the  paint¬ 
ings  and  great  poems  of  both  the  ancient  and  the 


282 


CATHOLICITY. 


modern  world,  were  consecrated  to  the  honor  of  the 
religion  which  inspired  the  genius  of  the  artists. 
It  is  to  the  sublime  dogmas  and  the  unrivalled 
heroes  of  Christianity,  that  the  modern  genius  of 
art  is  indebted  for  its  highest  conceptions  and 
embodiment  of  beauty.  The  more  religious  a 
people  is,  the  more  naturally  the  arts  flourish 
among  them.  For  art  becomes  a  kind  of  necessity 
to  a  religious  people,  since  it  alone  can  satisfy  the 
need  which  men  feel,  of  clothing  their  highest  in¬ 
spirations,  of  which  Keligion  is  the  fountain  source, 

with  the  highest  form  of  sensible  expression. 

* 

Hence,  Protestantism  can  give  birth  to  no  art  ; 
because  it  is  not  a  genuine  religion  ;  it  lacks 
originality  ;  it  is  precisely  what  its  name  imports, 
a  negation. 

To  copy  either  heathen  or  Catholic  works  is 
the  best  it  can  accomplish,  and  when  its  Wrens, 
Wests,  Allstons,  Thorwaldsens,  Powers,  Weirs, 
would  have  their  genius  enkindled,  they  are  com¬ 
pelled  to  go  to  Rome.  But  as  Catholicity  diffuses 
itself  art  springs  into  life  and  flourishes  naturally. 
For  the  Church  is  not  only  the  patron,  but  the 
mother  of  the  arts.  It  is  under  her  divine  influ¬ 
ence  that  all  the  nobler  powers  of  the  soul  are 
stimulated  into  activity,  and  sustained.  They 
therefore  who  rise  to  a  more  universal  and  higher 


UNIVERSALITY 


283 


perceptivity  of  the  True,  Good,  and  Beautiful, 
such  as  a  Leibnitz,  a  Grotius,  a  Burke,  a  Sir 
Humphry  JDavy,  a  Novalis,  are  almost  uncon¬ 
sciously  disposed  to  be  Catholic.  This,  too,  is  the 
secret  of  the  conversion  to  Catholicity  of  so  many 
lovers  of  the  fine  arts,  and  of  men  of  refined  and 
cultivated  tastes.  For  all  the  higher  and  purer 
affinities  of  the  soul  are  attracted  to  the  Catholic 
Church  as  to  their  native  and  parent  source. 

Christianity,  to  he  a  universal  religion,  and 
find  a  permanent  home  in  man's  bosom,  must  not 
only  answer  his  aspirations  for  universal  truth  and 
captivate  his  sense  of  beauty  ;  it  must  also  satisfy 
the  vast  craving  of  his  heart  for  universal  com¬ 
munion.  Expressing  this  instinct,  an  eloquent 
author  says  : — 

Moral  greatness  did  not  die  out  with  the 
apostles.  Their  lives  were  reported  for  this, 
among  other  ends,  that  their  virtues  might  he 
propagated  to  future  times,  and  that  men  might 
spring  up  as  worthy  a  place  among  the  canonized 
as  themselves.  What  I  wish  is,  that  we  should 
learn  to  regard  ourselves  as  members  of  a  vast 
spiritual  community,  as  joint  heirs  and  fellow- 
worshippers  with  the  goodly  company  of  Christian 
heroes  who  have  gone  before  us,  instead  of  immur¬ 
ing  ourselves  in  particular  churches.  Our  nature 


284 


CATHOLICITY. 


\ 


delights  in  this  consciousness  of  vast  connections 
This  tendency  manifests  itself  in  the  patriotic 
sentiment,  and  in  the  passionate  clinging  of  men 
to  great  religious  denominations.  Its  true  and 
noblest  gratification  is  found  in  the  deep  feeling 
of  a  vital,  everlasting  connection  with  the  univer¬ 
sal  Church,  with  the  innumerable  multitude  of  the 
holy  on  earth  and  in  heaven.^' 

But  does  the  Catholic  religion  so  represent 
Christianity,  as  to  afibrd  that  true  and  noblest 
gratification  of  the  consciousness  of  vast  connec¬ 
tions  wherein  our  nature  delights  ? ''  Who  shall 
give  the  answer  so  as  to  bring  the  truth  home  to 
the  convictions  of  our  readers  ?  Shall  we  speak, 
and  tell  how  the  noblest  sensibilities  of  our  nature, 
which  hitherto  had  laid  in  a  deathlike  slumber, 
under  its  quickening  influences,  are  awoke  into 
energetic  life  and  action  ?  Shall  we  reveal  how 
it  enlarges  the  heart  by  its  vast  connections,  makes 
man  feel  for  man  as  his  brother,  and  gives  birth 
to  a  communion,  while  here,  which  was  thought  to 
be  the  privilege  of  heaven  alone  ?  Shall  we  make 
known  how  it  stimulates  and  sanctions  the  noble 
desire  to  live,  to  work,  to  sacrifice  oneself,  und  to 
die,  if  needs  be,  for  love  of  our  fellow-men  ?  But 
no  ;  we  leave  our  testimony  to  be  recorded  in  such 


*  Dr.  Channing,  toI.  v. 


UNIVERSALITY. 


2Sb 


a  way  that  men  cannot  refuse  to  recognize  its 
sincerity  and  truth — ^in  deeds.  Let  the  same 
author  answer  whether  the  Catholic  Church  meets 
the  sentiments  which  he  has  expressed. 

The  word  Catholic/"  he  says,  means  uni¬ 
versal.  Would  to  God  that  the  Church,  which 
has  usurped  the  name,  had  understood  the  reality  ! 
Stni  Romanism  has  done  something  to  give  its 
members  the  idea  of  the  connection  with  that  vast 
spiritual  community,  or  Church,  which  has  existed 
in  all  times  and  spread  over  all  lands.  It  regards 
the  memory  of  great  and  holy  men  who  in  all  ages 
have  toiled  and  suffered  for  Religion,  asserts  the 
honor  of  the  heroes  of  faith,  enshrines  them  in 
heaven  as  beatified  saints,  converts  their  legends 
into  popular  literature,  appoints  days  to  the  cele¬ 
bration  of  their  virtues,  and  reveals  them  as  almost 
living  to  the  age  by  the  pictures  in  which  genius 
has  immortalized  their  deeds  .  .  .  She  has  given  to 
her  members  the  feelings  of  intimate  relation  to 
the  highest  and  noblest  men  in  all  preceding  ages. 
An  interesting  and  often  a  sanctifying  tie  connects 
the  present  Roman  Catholic  with  martyrs,  con¬ 
fessors,  and  a  host  of  men  whose  eminent  piety 
and  genius  and  learning  have  won  for  them  an 
immortal  fame,  It  is  no  mean  service  thus  to 
enlarge  men’s  ideas  and  affections  to  teach  them 


286 


CATHOLICITY. 


their  coim3ctioii  with  the  grandest  spirits  of  all 
times.'^  * 

A  capital  acknowledgment  that  the  Catholic 
Church  has  answered  to  man's  noblest  sympathies, 
bating  the  fling  at  usurpation,"  which,  however, 
a  Catholic  mind  will  readily  excuse,  seeing  that 
the  author  has  told  so  much  of  truth. 

Men's  destinies  are  linked  together,  and  are 
one.  Man  isolated  from  man  withers,  becomes 
decrepit,  and  dies.  The  Church,  to  be  Catholic, 
must  not  only  give  to  its  members  the  idea  of  the 
connection  with  a  vast  spiritual  community," 
but  practically  labor  to  bring  about  an  universal 
brotherhood  among  men  upon  earth.  How  has 
the  Catholic  Church  acted  her  part  in  this  regard  ? 

During  the  rough  contests  of  the  feudal 
tyrannies,"  says  Bancroft,  “  of  the  middle  ages. 
Religion  had  opened  in  the  Church  an  asylum  for 
the  people.  There  the  serf  and  the  beggar  could 
kneel  ;  there  the  pilgrim  and  the  laborer  were 
shrived  ;  and  the  children  of  misfortune,  not  less 
than  the  prosperous,  were  welcomed  to  the  house 
of  prayer.  The  Church  was  consequently  at  once 
ti  e  guardian  of  equality,  and  the  nurse  of  the 
arts  ;  and  the  souls  of  Giotto,  and  Perugino,  and 
Raphael,  moved  by  an  infinite  sympathy  with  the 


*  Dr.  Ohanning,  voL  t. 


UNTV  ERSALITT. 


287 


crowd,  kindled  with  divine  conceptions  of  beautiful 
forms.”  ^ 

But  this  does  not  complete  the  moral  harmo¬ 
nies  of  which  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  centre. 
Let  another  writer  attempt  to  describe  how  she 
labored  incessantly  to  make  men  feel  that  they 
were  all  of  one  kindred,  and  from  barbarism 
brought  forth  civilized  society — Christendom. 

In  the  history  of  the  European,  from  the  time 
of  the  Emperor  Constantine  to  the  18th  century, 
the  ecclesiastical  element  so  greatly  preponderates 
as  to  constitute  its  almost  essential  feature  ;  and, 
after  all,  it  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  effects 
which  ensued  on  the  establishment  of  Christianity, 
and  its  adoption  by  the  white  man  as  his  religion. 
The  civil  law  exerted  an  exterior  power  in  human 
relations  ;  this  produced  an  interior  and  moral 
change.  The  idea  of  an  ultimate  accountability 
for  personal  deeds,  of  which  the  old  Europeans 
had  an  indistinct  perception,  became  intense  and 
precise  ;  the  sentiment  of  universal  charity  was 
exemplified  not  only  in  individual  acts,  the  re¬ 
membrance  of  which  soon  passes  away,  but  in  the 
more  permanent  institution  of  establishments  for 
the  relief  of  affliction,  the  spread  of  knowledge, 
the  propagation  of  truth.  Of  the  great  ecclesi- 


*  Miscellanidg,  p.  418. 


CATHOLICITY. 


astics,  many  had  risen  from  the  humblest  ranks 
of  society,  and  these  men,  true  to  their  democratic 
instincts,  were  often  found  to  be  the  inflexible 
supporters  of  right  against  might.  Eventually 
coming  to  be  the  depositaries  of  the  knowledge 
that  then  existed,  they  opposed  intellect  to  brute 
force,  in  many  instances  successfully  ;  and  by  the 
example  of  the  organization  of  the  Church,  which 
was  essentially  republican,  they  showed  how  repre¬ 
sentative  systems  may  be  introduced  into  the 
state.  Nor  was  it  over  communities  and  nations 
that  the  Church  displayed  her  chief  power.  Never 
in  the  world  before  was  there  such  a  system. 
From  her  central  seat  at  Kome,  her  all-seeing  eye, 
like  that  of  Providence  itself,  could  equally  take 
in  a  hemisphere  at  a  glance,  or  examine  the  pri¬ 
vate  life  of  any  individual.  Her  boundless  influ¬ 
ence  enveloped  kings  in  their  palaces,  or  relieved 
the  beggar  at  the  monastery  gate.  In  all  Europe 
there  was  not  a  man  too  obscure,  too  insignificant, 
or  too  desolate  for  her.  Surrounded  by  her  solem- 
mties,  every  one  received  his  name  at  her  altar  ; 
her  bells  chimed  at  his  marriage,  her  knell  tolled 
at  his  funeral,  she  extorted  from  him  the  secrets 
of  his  life  at  her  confessionals,  and  punished  his 
faults  by  her  penances.  In  his  hour  of  sickness 
and  trouble  her  servants  sought  him  out,  teaching 


UNIVERSALITY. 


289 


him,  by  her  exquisite  litanies  and  prayers,  to  place 
his  reliance  on  God,  or  strengthening  him  for  the 
trials  of  life  by  the  example  of  the  holy  and  just. 
Her  prayers  had  an  efficacy  to  give  repose  to  the 
soul  of  his  dead.  When  even  to  his  friends  his 
lifeless  body  had  become  an  offence,  in  the  name 
of  God  she  received  it  into  her  consecrated  ground, 
and  under  her  shadow  he  rested  till  the  great 
reckoning  day.  From  little  better  than  a  slave 
she  raisetl  his  wife  to  be  his  equal,  and  forbidding 
him  to  have  more  than  one,  met  her  recompense 
for  those  noble  deeds  in  a  firm,  friend  at  every  fire¬ 
side.  Discountenancing  all  impure  love,  she  put 
round  that  fireside  the  children  of  one  mother, 
and  made  that  mother  little  less  than  sacred  in 
their  eyes.  In  ages  of  lawlessness  and  rapine, 
among  people  but  a  step  above  savages,  she  vindi¬ 
cated  the  inviolability  of  her  precincts  against  the 
hand  of  power,  and  made  her  temples  a  refuge  and 
sanctuary  for  the  despairing  and  oppressed.  Truly 
she  was  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  many  a 
weary  land  !  * 

Thus  did  the  Catholic  Church  break  down 
those  barriers  which  separated  man  from  man,  and 
struggle  in  the  midst  of  darkness  to  realize  the 
sublime  idea  of  a  universal  brotherhood  of  men 
upon  earth. 

13 


♦  Draper’s  PhjBiology,  p.  625. 


290 


CATHOLICITY. 


The  divine  charm  which  she  exercised  over 
men’s  minds,  is  broken  ;  the  bonds  of  universal 
sympathy  with  which  she  hound  men’s  hearts,  are 
snapt  asunder,  hut  she  is  one  and  unchangeable. 
She  knows  no  past,  no  wrinkles  form  upon  her 
heaven-inspired  brow,  no  age  tarnishes  her  celes¬ 
tial  beauty  ;  for,  though  ancient,  yet  she  is  always 
new,  because  Divine. 

The  cry  for  Universal  Communion  !  for  Pro¬ 
gress  !  for  Universal  Kestoration  !  for  Humanity  ! 
stirs  men’s  hearts,  thrills  their  blood  through  their 
veins,  and  nerves  their  arms  to  enterprises  for  the 
welfare  of  the  human  race.  Experience  demon¬ 
strates  that  individual  exertions  are  too  weak  to 
accomplish  universal  ends.  Men  look  around  them 
In  distress  for  an  organization  with  power  fitted  to 
the  realization  of  their  lofty  aspirations,  noble 
hopes,  and  immense  desires.  The  divine  society  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  the  only  great  and  grand  in¬ 
stitution  handed  down  from  age  to  age  unimpaired, 
the  mother  of  modern  civilization,  the  founder  of 
Christendom,  the  genius  which  inspired  the  great 
crusades,  looms  up  before  their  eyes  in  all  the 
strength  of  Unity,  in  all  the  majesty  of  Catho¬ 
licity,  in  all  the  beauty  of  Holiness,  as  the  only 
hope  Humanity  has  for  the  Future. 

Lovers  of  your  race,  clieer  up  !  the  enthusiasm 


UNIVERSAI^ITY. 


291 


which  enkindled  the  hearts  of  men,  of  women,  and 
of  even  little  children,  to  battle  in  armies  against 
the  enemies  of  Christian  civilization  ;  the  love  that 
inspired  men  and  women  to  live  and  die  for  God 
and  Humanity,  beats  as  strong  and  as  lively  now 
as  then  in  the  bosom  of  God’s  Church.  Men  of 
the  Future  !  the  sky  brightens,  the  day  of  hope 
will  come ;  and  the  human  race,  under  her  divine 
guidance,  will  march  as  one  man  to  its  Divine 
Destiny. 


XXXI. 


Cburcb. 


A  castle  strongly  built,  and  eminent, 

Above  Time’s  battle-plain,  defaced  and  gory; 
A  palace  where,  in  robes  of  kingly  glory. 

Our  spirits  rest.” 


De  Verb. 


OD,  in  his  ordinary  providence,  does  not  pre- 


^  sent  immediately  to  men’s  minds  the  truths 
of  Revelation.  For  this  purpose  he  employs  the 
usual  channels  of  communicating  truth  to  visible 
organs.  In  accordance  with  this  principle,  God 
took  a  material  body  with  visible  organs  to  make 
known  his  Religion  to  men.  Now  the  Church 
stands  in  relation  to  men  as  the  body  of  Christ 
did,  a  means  of  conveying  to  men  the  truths  of 
Divine  Revelation  by  visible  organs.  This  is  the 
reason  why  the  Church  is  called,  in  Holy  Writ, 
“the  Body  of  Christ.” 


CHURCH. 


293 


It  is  not  possible  that  the  truths  of  Dmne  Reve¬ 
lation  should  be  transmitted  from  generation  to 
generation,  through  difrerent  nations,  cHmes,  and 
forms  of  political  society*,  without  any  alterations 
or  additions  to  the  end  of  time,  except  through  a 
visible  organ,  which  is  made  by  the  power  of  God, 
independent  of  and  above  the  sway  and  influence 
of  human  passions  and  interests. 

A  Revelation  which  is  not  so  guarded  and 
preserved,  eventually  will  lose  its  divine  character, 
and  open  the  door  to  feelings  of  incertitude  and 
doubt,  and  fail  to  give  that  security  to  our  re¬ 
ligious  convictions  which  Reason  demands. 

A  Church  which  professes  to  be  charged  with 
the  office  of  teaching  the  truths  of  the  Christian 
Revelation,  and  which  is  not  provided  with  the 
Divine  promise  never  to  fall  into  error,  or  be  sub¬ 
ject  to  corruptions,  is  only  fit  to  address  upon  their 
eternal  interests  men  who  have  never  exercised 
their  thinking  faculties,  or  who  are  wholly  indiffer¬ 
ent  about  their  future  welfare. 

Of  all  assumptions  of  power  that  were  ever 
heard  of,  the  most  arrogant  and  awful  is  that 
which,  without  an  unerring  and  divine  sanction, 
makes  the  profession  of  teaching  to  mankind  the 
way  of  eternal  salvation.  This  is  an  unbearable 
imposition,  and  should  be  resisted  by  eveiy’  man 


294 


CATHOI.ICITY. 


who  retains  his  manhood,  and  would  not  rashly 
expose  his  soul  to  eternal  perdition. 

Any  reformation  of  the  Christian  Religion  after 
it  was  established  once  for  all,  by  its  Divine 
Author,  presupposes  that  Christianity  was  not  a 
final  and  complete  revelation,  or  that  He  lacked 
the  power  to  establish  it  on  an  imperishable 
basis. 

But  the  Author  of  Christianity,  in  founding 
his  Church,  promised  that  the  gates  of  hell  should 
not  prevail  against  it,  and  that  He  would  be  with 
it  until  the  end  of  ages ;  this  left  no  pretext  con¬ 
sistent  with  a  belief  in  His  Divine  character  or  His 
honesty,  for  a  reformation  or  a  protest  against  His 
Church. 

Hence  those  men  who  have  protested  against 
the  Church  of  Christ,  from  Arius  to  I^uther,  were 
actuated  by  the  spirit  of  Anti-Christ.  And  in 
view  of  the  fatal  effects  of  the  religious  revolution 
of  the  Reformation,  the  Protestant  Kirchoff  says : 
‘  ‘  I  would  not  know  how  to  produce  any  solid 
argument  against  any  one  who  should  proclaim 
Ruther  the  forerunner  of  the  age  of  Anti-Christ.” 

The  necessity  of  the  Church,  and  of  its  divine 
character,  is  twofold.  For  Christianity  is  not  only 
a  complete  system  of  divinely  revealed  truths, 
answering  to  the  otherwise  insoluble  questions  of 


CHURCH. 


295 


Reason,  opening  to  its  eye  the  glorious  destiny  of 
the  soul,  it  is  also  the  source  of  Divine  Lifu 
Hence  Christ  says,  “  I  am  the  vine  ;  you  the 
branches  :  he  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  hioL 
the  same  beareth  much  fruit ;  for  without  me  ye 
can  do  nothing.”  ^  Christ  being  both  the  Light 
and  the  Life  of  men,  the  Church  must  both  en¬ 
lighten  the  mind  and  vitalize  the  heart. 

But  life  is  organic.  There  is  no  other  life 
traceable.  An  organic  visible  body,  exempt  from 
all  liabihty  to  decay  or  corruption,  is  therefore 
necessary  to  transmit  this  Divine  Life  in  its  purity 
from  one  generation  to  another,  until  the  end  of 
time. 

Since  we  cannot  conceive  of  Life,  nor  of  its 
transmission  and  preservation,  otherwise  than  in 
its  incorporation  into  a  visible  organism,  it  follows 
we  can  have  no  real  vital  communion  with  Christ, 
except  in  connection  with  his  body,  the  Church. 

The  Church  is  therefore  a  visible  organic  body 
instituted  by  Christ  to  teach  those  Divine  Truths, 
and  convey  that  Divine  Life  to  men,  which  moved 
Him  to  come  down  from  heaven,  and  unite  His 
Godhead  to  our  manhood  in  one  personality  in  the 
flesh. 

The  Church  is  the  body  of  Christ,  the  organ 

*  St.  John,  o.  XV. 


296 


CATHOLICITY. 


of  Divine  Light  and  Life  to  men,  and  the  idea 
of  an  invisible  Churca  is  a  sheer  piece  of  subter¬ 
fuge  to  escape  her  claims  to  allegiance,  to  reject 
Christianity,  and  still  pass  for  a  Christian. 


xxxn. 


**  Teach  no  men  to  be  slaves, 

But  with  high  minds  obey.” 

F.  'W.  Fabbk. 

There  may  be  some  readers  of  these  pages 
who  do  not  understand  how  a  Cathohc  can 
consistently  uphold  the  authority  of  Reason,  and 
at  the  same  time  maintain  as  strenuously  the 
authority  of  the  Catholic  Church.  They  have 
been  taught,  or  led  to  believe,  that  Reason  and  the 
Church  were  antagonistic  ;  that  to  be  a  Cathohc 
was  blindly  to  submit  Reason  to  exterior  authority, 
to  abandon  conscience  to  the  direction  of  priests, 
and  that  by  so  doing  one  might  rest  entirely 
secure  of  his  future  welfare. 

Every  instructed  person  knows,  or  ought  to 
know,  that  there  are  several  primary,  independent, 
13^ 


298 


CATHOLICITY. 


and  authoritative  sources  of  truth.  Among  others, 
and  the  first,  is  Reason  ;  then,  there  is  the  Holy 
Ghost  dwelling  in  the  heart ;  also  exterior  divine 
Revelation  ;  and  besides  these,  the  Church.  Each 
of  these  sources  of  truth  is  unerring,  as  they 
have  God  for  their  origin ;  and  cannot  conflict 
with  each  other.  Within  their  proper  limits 
they  confirm  each  other,  and  afibrd  a  mutual  sup¬ 
port  ;  and  Catholicity,  which  means  universal 
truth,  includes  these  several  authorities  acting  in 
perfect  harmony,  and  producing  in  the  minds  of 
her  believers  a  most  firm  and  entire  conviction  of 
the  truths  which  she  teaches. 

As  regards  the  authority  of  Reason,  this  has 
been  sufficiently  explained  in  what  has  preceded. 
Not  a  single  step  can  be  made  in  the  advance 
towards  truth  without  the  open  or  tacit  admission 
of  her  unerring  authority.  Jesus  Christ  constantly 
appealed  to  the  decisions  of  Reason  in  favor  of  his 
divine  mission,  and  in  defence  of  his  doctrines. 
His  Apostles  followed  his  example,  and  affirmed  the 
authority  of  Reason  by  counselling  their  disciples 
to  ‘^try  the  spirits''  and  prove  all  things."  The 
Pontiffs  and  Councils  of  the  Church  have  been  no 
less  jealous  of  the  authority  and  rights  of  Reason. 
They  have  ever  sustained  these  by  their  decisions, 

and  by  condemning  those  who  would  depreciate 

‘  \ 


AUTHORITY. 


299 


the  value  of  Keason  ;  knowing  full  well  that  Bi 
religion  not  founded  on  the  convictions  of  Reason 
is  worthless,  degrading  to  man  and  displeasing  tc 
Grod. 

Christ  not  only  appealed  to  the  authority  of 
Reason  in  support  of  his  religion,  he  also  promised 
to  send  to  his  disciples  the  Paraclete,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  should  lead  them  into  all  truth,  and 
to  come  with  his  heavenly  Father,  and  make  their 
hearts  the  dwelling  place  of  the  most  august 
Trinity.^'  Now,  it  will  not  answer  to  profess  to 
believe  the  teachings  of  Christ  as  the  words  of 
divine  Truth,  and  ignore  the  authority  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  indwelling  in  the  soul. 

This  is  good  Protestantism,  some  one  may 
suppose,  and  even  say  that  sentiments  of  such  a 
nature  clash  with  the  doctrines  and  spirit  of  the 
Roman  Church. 

Be  not  so  ready,  indulgent  reader,  in  drawing 
conclusions.  A  religion  which  teaches  the  total 
depravity’'  of  Human  Nature  excludes  necessarily 
the  authority  of  Reason,  and  there  is  no  conceiv¬ 
able  method  by  which  a  soul,  wholly  corrupt,  can 
ever  become  a  fit  dwelling  place  of  the  All-pure 
and  Holy  One.  Purity  of  heart  and  interior  life 
is  impossible  on  Protestant  principles,  and  union 


*  John  0. 14. 


30C 


CATHOLICITY. 


of  the  soul  with  God  an  p^homination.  For  sane* 
tification,  in  the  Protestant  sense,  is  nothing  else 
than  the  covering  over  of  man's  inherent  corrup¬ 
tion  with  the  cloak  of  Christ's  righteousness. 

Sanctification,  according  to  Catholic  principles, 
is  entirely  different.  It  is  an  intrinsic  work  oi 
grace,  which  restores  the  soul  to  its  primitive 
purity,  and  adorns  it  with  its  ancient  beauty, 
making  it  thus  a  fit  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

This  is  evident  from  the  perusal  of  any  of  the 
writings  of  the  spiritual  authors  of  the  Catholic 
faith.  Let  one  here  suffice  : — 

“  God  alone,"  says  Father  Lallemant,  has 
right  of  sovereignty  over  hearts.  Neither  secular 
powers  nor  the  church  herself  extend  their  domin¬ 
ion  thus  far.  What  passes  there  depends  not  on 
them.  There  God  alone  is  king.  It  is  his  own 
proper  realm.  There  he  establishes  his  throne  of 
grace.  This  interior  kingdom  it  is  that  constitutes 
his  glory.  Our  perfection  and  our  happiness  con¬ 
sist  in  the  subjection  of  our  hearts  to  this  empire 
of  God." 

“  Our  perfection  depends  wholly  on  the  fideli- 
ty  with  which  we  have  cooperated  with  the  move¬ 
ments  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  followed  his  guidance, 
and  we  may  say  that  the  sum  of  the  spiritual  life 
consists  in  observing  the  ways  and  the  movements 


AUTHORITY. 


301 


of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  our  soul,  and  in  fortifying 
them,  employing  for  this  purpose  all  the  exercise 
of  prayer,  spiritual  reading,  sacraments,  the  prac¬ 
tice  of  virtues  and  good  works.'’ 

We  ought  to  receive  every  inspiration  as  a 
word  of  God,  proceeding  from  His  wisdom.  His 
mercy.  His  infinite  goodness,  and  capable  of 
operating  in  us  marvellous  effects,  if  we  put  no 
obstacle  in  its  way.  ...  It  would  draw  us  out  of 
our  moral  nothingness  to  a  supernatural  participa¬ 
tion  in  the  beatitude  of  God." 

The  whole  body  of  doctrine  on  spiritual  life  in 
the  Catholic  Church  is  based  upon  the  fact  of  the 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  hearts  of  her 
faithful  children.  So  sacred  does  the  Cathohc 
Church  hold  this  inward  oracle  of  the  Truth,  and 
of  such  authority,  that  the  soul,  refusing  to  believe 
in  its  divine  communications,  would  he  no  less 
guilty  of  the  sin  of  infidelity  and  disobedience, 
than  if  she  refused  to  believe  the  recorded  revela¬ 
tion  of  Holy  Writ,  or  resisted  the  divinely-consti¬ 
tuted  authority  of  the  Church  itself.  Sanctity,  in 
the  Catholic  sense,  consists  in  faithfully  following 
in  all  our  thoughts,  affections,  and  actions,  the 
suggestions  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  short.  Catho¬ 
licity  inaugurates  the  inward  oracle  of  the  soul, 
and  claims  for  its  dictates  a  divine  authority. 

•  Th«  Spiritual  Doctrine,  pp.  41, 182, 187 


302 


CATHOLICITY. 


But  we  shall  be  asked  “  Wbat  else  was  Prot¬ 
estantism  than  the  rising  up  of  the  human  mind 
against  the  crushing  tyranny  exercised  by  Kome 
over  the  souls  of  men  ? 

We  suppose  the  Eeader  has  read  the  foregoing 
chapter  on  the  necessity  and  Divine  authority  of 
the  Church,  and  we  suppose  also  that  there  is  no 
reason  to  show  that  the  Catholic  Church  holds 
most  firmly  to  the  Divine  Kevelation  of  Holy  W rit. 
If  this  be  granted,  then  we  have  four  distinct 
sources  of  religious  truth,  namely,  Keason,  the 
Holy  Grhost  in  the  soul,  the  Bible,  and  the  Church. 
Now,  if  the  Church  be  a  divine  authority,  whose 
office  is  not  to  increase  but  define  and  confirm  the 
divinely-revealed  truths,  its  exercise  can  but  be 
consonant  with  Keason,  the  inward  light  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  Sacred  Scripture.  The  idea  of 
any  clashing  between  them  is  absurd,  and  can 
never  enter  an  intelligent  and  well-regulated  mind. 

Failing  to  see  this  divinely-constituted  order, 
men  otherwise  intelligent,  form  the  most  extrava¬ 
gant,  absurd,  and  even  monstrous  notions  concern¬ 
ing  the  Catholic  Keligion.  Even  the  most  dis¬ 
tinguished  among  Protestants,  seldom  if  ever  rise 
in  their  vision  to  the  view  of  the  sublime  harmony 
of  Christianity  as  developed  by  the  Catholic  Church. 
They  seem  to  believe  that  Reason  and  Keligion 
10* 


AUTHORITY. 


303 


are  opposed  to  each  other,  and  that  the  only  road 
to  Religion  is  by  subjugating  or  sacrificing  Reason. 
Thus  M.  Guizot,  in  speaking  of  the  relations  of 
Reason  and  Religion,  says  : — 

In  the  natural  order,  man  exercises  a  part 
of  the  action  and  of  the  power  ;  hut,  in  the  super¬ 
natural  order,  he  has  only  -to  make  an  act  of  self- 
submission.'^ 

If  M.  Guizot  means  by  this  that  man  exer¬ 
cises  no  part  of  the  action  and  of  the  power,"  in 
accepting  the  supernatural  order,  this  would  en¬ 
tirely  exclude  Reason  from  the  sphere  of  Christi¬ 
anity  ;  and  Religion  without  Reason  is  super¬ 
stition,  is  fanaticism,  and  the  degradation  of  man. 
There  is  a  different  kind  of  exercise  of  Reason  in 
the  natural  order  from  that  of  the  supernatural 
order  ;  but  one  is  no  less  a  part  of  the  action 
and  of  the  power  "  of  Reason  than  the  other.  If 
any  distinction  is  to  be  made,  it  is  in  favor  of  the 
exercise  of  Reason  in  the  supernatural  order,  for 
there  it  has  for  its  object  the  highest  order  of 
truth,  and,  therefore,  its  most  sublime  exercise  and 
assertion.  From  this  point  of  view  M.  Guizot’s 
statement  is  incorrect.  Again,  there  is  not  only 
an  intelligent  exercise  of  Reason  in  the  acceptance 
of  the  supernatural  order,  but  to  a  certain  degree 


*  Etudes  Morale*. 


304 


CATHOLICITY. 


an  exercise  of  Reason  on  the  truths  so  received 
For  all  supernatural  truths  have  an  intelligible 
side  to  our  natural  Reason,  and  therefore  our  Rea¬ 
son  may  be,  and  should  be,  exercised  on  them  ; 
and  when  it  is  elevated  by  grace  to  the  super¬ 
natural  order,  it  is  wonderful  how  much  of  the 
supernatural  becomes  intelligible.  The  statement 
therefore  that  man  in  the  supernatural  order 
has  only  to  make  an  act  of  self-submission,’"  is  an 
injustice  done  to  the  rights  of  Reason,  and  conveys 
a  false  and  injurious  impression  of  the  nature  of 
Christianity. 

The  same  distinguished  writer  makes  in  the 
same  connection  another  statement  no  less  errone¬ 
ous  and  injurious  to  the  true  principles  of  Christi¬ 
anity. 

Authority,”  he  says,  is  the  appanage  of 
Religion :  Liberty  that  of  Philosophy.”  * 

There  is  in  this  a  twofold  error  ;  for  Religion 
has  no  less  need  of  liberty  than  philosophy  has 
need  of  authority.  Religion  without  liberty  is  a 
sheer  imposition  and  tyranny  ;  philosophy,  without 
the  authority  of  first  principles,  is  downright  im¬ 
becility.  Religious  homage,  to  be  agreeable  to 
God,  must  spring  from  the  free  assent  of  a  reason¬ 
able  creature,  and  philosophy  cannot  take  a  single 


•  Ibid. 


AUT  H  OBIT  Y. 


305 


step  in  the  discovery  of  truth  without  admitting, 
in  advance,  the  authority  of  certain  given  primary 
truths. 

Strange  to  say,  that  the  fundamental  errom 
broached  by  Luther,  and  which  are  found  in  our 
examination  of  Protestantism,  that  Christianity  ii 
antagonistic  to  Keason  and  the  liberty  of  the  Will, 
should  serve  as  the  basis  of  such  an  enlightened 
and  cultivated  intellect  as  that  of  M.  Guizot ! 

An  eloquent  writer,  in  reply  to  M.  Guizot, 
asks,  What  is  Christianity  ?  It  is  authority. 
What  is  Protestantism  ?  It  is  free-inquiry."^ 

By  Christianity  the  above  writer  means  Cath¬ 
olicity,  and  Catholicity  by  no  means  excludes  oi 
forbids  free-inquiry.  Catholic  authority  upholds 
man^s  right  to  free-inquiry  in  all  that  is  possible 
for  man  to  know.  This  was  shown  in  the  chapters 
twenty-three  and  four,  on  Keason,  and  by  the 
words  of  the  present  reigning  Pontiff.  And  what 
is  this  saying  but  an  evident  truth,  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  every  reasonable  being  to  cultivate  his 
intellectual  faculties,  by  the  acquisition  of  the 
knowledge  of  all  that  may  be  known.  To  pretend 
to  free-inquiry  in  matters  which  lie  beyond  the 
grasp  of  our  intellectual  faculties,  is  the  proclama¬ 
tion  of  folly.  Catholicity,  therefore,  unites  divinsp 
authority  with  perfect  free-inquiry. 

*  Loul«  VAoiUot 


306 


CATHOLICITY. 


But  we  are  at  a  loss  to  discover  how  Protes* 
tantism”  can  be  called  “  free-inquiry  ”  when  it 
denies  to  man  the  possession  of  Keason,  denies  the 
bberty  of  Will,  and  insists  upon  his  total  depravity, 
Nor  can  we  understand  if  this  he  the  deplorable 
state  of  man,  of  what  use  free-inquiry  would  be  to 
him.  Free-inquiry,  on  Protestant  principles,  is  as 
impossible  as  it  is  absurd. 

Our  readers  must  not  think  us  fastidious  in 
dwelling  on  these  points,  for  the  force  of  the  whole 
discussion  turns  on  the  question.  What  is  Ke- 
ligion  ?  What  is  Protestantism  ? 

What  is  Protesjfcantism  ?  ”  asks  a  celebrated 
Catholic  writer.  “  If  there  be  any  thing  constant 
in  Protestantism,'^  he  replies,  it  is  undoubtedly 
the  substitution  of  private  judgment  for  public 
authority.  This  is,  properly  speaking,  its  funda¬ 
mental  principle." 

If  the  illustrious  Balmes  intended  in  this  defi¬ 
nition  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  Catholic  Church 
suppresses  the  free  and  lawful  exercise  of  private 
judgment,  he  undoubtedly  spoke  incorrectly. 
Catholicity  addresses  itself  to  our  private  judgment, 
and  on  its  decision  the  whole  edifice  of  Eeligion  is 
raised.  Private  judgment  is  personal  judgment, 
and  its  exercise  is  involved  in  the  idea  of  putting 


*  Baimea. 


AUTHORITY. 


307 


it  aside.  Protestantism  did  not  therefore  assert 
the  right  of  private  judgment,  for  its  exercise  had 
always  and  ever  must  exist.  There  is  no  con¬ 
ceivable  way  of  getting  rid  of  it,  if  desired. 

This  is  acknowledged  by  Protestants.  “  One 
often  hears  it  said,'^  writes  Thomas  Carlyle,  that 
Protestantism  introduced  a  new  era  radically  dif¬ 
ferent  from  any  the  world  had  ever  seen  before  : 
the  era  of  ^  private  judgment '  as  they  call  it. 
This  ^  private  judgment "  at  bottom  is  not  a  new 
thing  in  the  world.  There  is  nothing  generically 
new  or  peculiar  in  the  Reformation  .  .  .  Liberty 
of  ‘  private  judgment,’  if  we  will  consider,  must  at 
all  times  have  existed  in  the  world.  Dante  had 
not  put  out  his  eyes,  or  tied  shackles  on  himself ; 
he  was  at  home  in  that  Catholicity  of  his,  a  free- 
seeing  soul  in  it.”  * 

Protestantism  was  not  then  the  substitution 
of  something  which  before  was  not,  or  which  was 
not  in  an  undisturbed  possession  of  its  rightful 
sphere  of  activity.  Our  lamented  author  did  not 
perhaps  intend  to  say  that  it  was. 

What,  then,  is  Protestantism  ?  Protestant¬ 
ism,  in  its  practical  development,  is  the  exaggera¬ 
tion  of  the  authority  of  private  judgment  to  the 
entire  exclusion  of  all  other  authorities. 


*  Hero«Mk 


308 


C  A  THOLICITT. 


The  truth  of  this  is  demonstrated  by  its  his¬ 
tory.  The  first  decided  step  of  Protestantism  was 
uecessarily  the  denial  of  the  Divine  Authority  of 
the  Church  ;  for  if  the  Church  had  not  erred,  there 
could  be  no  grounds  for  an  opposition  to  it.  The 
second  step  of  Protestantism  was  the  denial  of  the 
divine  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  especially 
of  those  parts  which  supported  the  doctrines  of 
the  Church  so  plainly  that  they  left  no  possible 
means  of  perverting  that  meaning.  Hence  Luther 
began  by  rejecting  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,  since 
it  so  plainly  teaches  that  man  is  not  justified  by 
faith  alone,  Luther's  opinion,  but  by  faith  and 
works,  the  Catholic  doctrine.  And  he  also  threw 
strong  suspicions  on  several  other  portions  of  Holy 
Writ.  His  disciples,  following  his  example  with 
their  pitiless  exegesis,  have  either  left  nothing 
standing  of  the  Bible  as  authentic,  except  its  two 
covers,  or,  as  with  others  who  take  a  different 
route,  have  left  its  contents  untouched,  but  de¬ 
stroyed  its  authority,  by  proving  to  a  demon¬ 
stration  that  it  is  nothing  but  a  myth — an  old 
wife's  Fable.  And,  as  the  last  expression  of  gen¬ 
uine  Protestantism,  the  modern  German  philoso¬ 
phers  who  plume  themselves  on  the  title  of  being 
the  truest  children  of  Luther,  proclaim  that  God 
is  only  man's  intuition  of  his  own  nature." 


AUTHORITY. 


309 


Thus  Protestantism,  by  force  of  the  exaggera¬ 
tion  of  the  authority  of  private  judgment,  has 
overthrown  every  other  authority,  and  ends  by 
deifying  it,  in  declaring  “  Man  is  his  own  Grod  . 
Homo  sihi  Deus ! 

But  each  of  these  authorities  has  its  perfect 
expression  in  Catholicity,  revolving  around  the 
authority  of  the  Church  as  their  centre  in  perfect 
harmony.  Hence  it  is  that  “  the  Catholic,  and 
he  alone,  has  within  him  that  union  of  external, 
with  internal  notes  of  God’s  favor,  which  sheds  the 
light  of  conviction  over  his  soul,  and  makes  him 
fearless  in  his  faith,  and  calm  and  thankful  in  his 
hope.”  * 

There  are  those  perhaps  who  will  say  that 
“the  Catholic  Church  of  the  nineteenth  century 
respects  Eeason  and  the  inward  witness  to  truth, 
but  this  she  has  learned  from  Protestantism.  And 
her  present  attitude  in  this  regard,  far  from  being 
real  and  sincere,  springs  from  her  deep  and  usual 
crafty  policy.” 

This  needs  no  other  refutation  than  the  fact 
that  the  Catholic  Church  held,  long  before  Protes¬ 
tantism  was  dreamed  of,  precisely  the  same  doc¬ 
trines  she  holds  now.  As  a  specimen  of  her  spirit, 
we  shall  give  a  short  extract  from  the  writings  of 


*  Newman. 


310 


Mother  Juliana,  an  anchorite  nun,  who  lived'  in 
the  time  of  King  Edward  the  Third,  three  centu¬ 
ries  before  the  so-called  Reformation  : — 

‘‘  By  three  things,"'  she  says,  “  man  standeth 
in  this  life  :  by  which  three  God  is  worshipped, 
and  we  be  spede,  kept,  and  saved.  The  first  is, 
use  of  man’s  kindly  Reason.  The  second  is,  the 
common  teaching  of  Holy  Church.  The  third  is, 
the  gracious  working  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  God  is 
the  ground  of  our  kindly  Reason  ;  and  God  is  the 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Church  ;  and  God  is  the  Holy 
Ghost.  And  all  the  sundry  gifts  to  which  He  will 
we  have  regard,  and  according  us  thereto  :  for 
these  work  in  us  continually  altogether,  and  these 
be  great  things." 

The  effect  of  Protestantism  on  the  Catholic 
Church  was  thus  to  call  forth  her  energies  in  de¬ 
fence  of  those  truths  which  were  attacked.  As 
the  divine  authority  of  the  Church  was  the  first 
which  was  attacked  by  Protestants,  this  was  the 
first  which  demanded  a  defence  from  Catholics. 
When  the  authority  of  Reason  was  denied,  she 
was  there  to  uphold  its  claims.  As  the  Champion 
of  Truth,  she  was  ready  to  defend  its  cause  when¬ 
ever,  wherever,  and  by  whomsoever  attacked.  One 
has  but  to  read  the  decisions  of  her  Pontiffs  and 
Councils  to  be  fully  convinced  of  this. 

*  Revelation  of  Divine  Lnrn. 


AUTHORITY. 


311 


The  Catholic  truth  having  at  length  been  suc¬ 
cessfully  defended  against  the  assaults  of  the 
countless  errors  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
Church  will  stand  forth  with  a  greater  conscious¬ 
ness  of  her  possession  of  the  truth,  and  continue 
her  Divine  mission  in  the  world  wMh  more  than 
her  former  splendor. 


•''7 


\  i .  (0  ’ ^  t/i 


XXXID. 

J^plisnits. 

“  With  solemn  forms,  benign  solicitudes, 

But  each  a  sacramental  type  and  pledge 
Of  Grace,  the  Church  inweaves  a  sheltering  hedge 
Around  her  garden  vale.” — Db  Veee. 

IT  has  been  shown  in  the  last  two  chapters  that 
we  are  required  to  observe  the  ceremonies  of 
religious  worship.  Hitherto  we  have  taken  oui 
point  of  vision  from  Human  Nature  ;  let  us  con¬ 
tinue  to  do  sOj  and  see  what  relation  these  appli¬ 
ances  of  Religion  hear  to  it. 

Men  are  not  angels,  and  what  constitutes  man 
a  distinct  being  in  the  order  of  creation,  is  the 
possession  of  an  immortal,  spiritual  soul,  with  a 
perishable,  material  body.  Our  bodies,  as  we  all 
know,  are  gifted  by  their  Creator  with  what  are 
tailed  the  senses,  through  which,  as  through  win' 


APPLIANCES. 


313 


dows,  tlie  soul  looks  out  upon,  ana  comes  in  con-* 
tact  with  the  world  around  it.  And  through  the 
same  avenues,  the  outward  returns,  stamping 
indelihly  its  impression  on  the  soul,  and  exciting 
its  deepest  emotions. 

Men  are  also  aware  of  the  psychological  fact, 
that  the  imagination  has  a  powerful  influence  in 
swaying  their  actions,  and  even  their  judgments. 
Now,  the  imagination  is  closely  allied  to  the  senses, 
and  is  easily  exerted  through  them. 

Hence  these  torch-light  processions,  these 
popular  songs  and  loud  hurrahs,  preceding  a  popu¬ 
lar  election.  By  such  machinery  the  senses  are 
struck,  the  imagination  excited,  and  an  enthusiasm 
enkindled  in  the  hearts  of  men.  And,  other  things 
being  equal,  the  most  successful  results  have  been 
attained  by  the  most  effective  appeals  of  this 
kind. 

Why  this  military  dress  and  martial  music — 
a  people's  national  air,  its  flag,  eagle,  lion,  lily  ? 
What  mean  these  things  ?  Lo,  the  battle  field  ! 
the  cry,  to  arms ! "  the  flag  unfurled  1  the 
nation's  music  and  watchward  sounded  forth. 
Liberty !  the  Queen  !  TEmpereur  !  And  now 
the  men  whose  blood  before  flowed  sluggishly 
through  their  veins,  are  at  a  flash  alive  with  fiery 
courage,  brave  as  lions,  reckless  of  danger  or  death, 
14 


314 


CATHOLICITY. 


and  with  every  nerve  strained,  every  heart  beatinj^ 
as  with  one  pulsation,  they  rush  into  the  conflict. 
What  now  has  so  transformed  these  men  into 
heroes  ?  W as  it  some  instrument  mighty  in  itself  ? 
By  no  means  ;  a  flag  is  hut  a  piece  of  hunting — 
no  more.  A  national  song  is  only  a  few  vibrations 
of  the  air — nothing  else.  The  eagle  is  a  simple 
fowl,  of  the  genus  falco.  Ah,  but  tread  upon 
that  piece  of  bunting  with  contempt,  and  you 
will  arouse  the  flercest  passions  of  resentment  ! 
Those  simple  vibrations  of  the  air  have  the  power, 
when  felt,  to  move  and  arouse  the  passions  of  an 
entire  people.  A  nation's  genius  and  afiections 
are  so  embodied  in  that  eagle,  that  the  sight  of  it 
alone  will  animate  a  whole  army  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  enthusiasm  and  heroic  valor. 

Such  is  Human  Nature,  and  such  are  the 
influences  brought  to  bear  upon  men  for  the 
achievement  of  the  mightiest  results. 

Surely,  then,  if  it  be  the  great  end  of  Keligion 
tc  direct  heavenward  all  our  energies  to  their  sub¬ 
lime  destiny,  it  ought  not  carelessly  to  overlook 
or  regard  with  contempt  such  powerful  auxiliaries 
for  controlling  and  swaying  men.  A  Religion 
which  has  man's  highest  interests  at  heart,  will  do 
its  utmost  to  engage  these  common  instincts  of 
our  nature  to  aid  in  the  accomplishment  of  its 


APPLIANCES. 


315 


beneficent  and  glorious  purposes,  especially  when 
it  is  considered  that  not  only  are'all  men  more  or 
less  influenced  hy  the  senses  and  imagination,  hut 
that  most  men  are  so  constituted,  that  these,  and 
the  affections  and  passions  immediately  connected 
with  them,  act  a  predominant  part  in  their  lives. 
They  are  hy  far  more  impressed  hy  what  appeals 
to  the  senses  than  hy  what  addresses  Keason. 
Now,  if  Keligion  would  do  its  duty  towards  this, 
hy  far  the  larger  class  of  men,  it  must  reach  their 
higher  nature  through  these  exterior  avenues. 

Religion,  therefore,  in  order  to  fulfil  its  divine 
mission  towards  man,  must  not  only  present  to 
him  satisfactory  solutions  of  the  dark  problems  of 
Reason,  she  must  also  by  the  fitness  and  splendor 
of  her  Worship  captivate  his  senses  and  imagina¬ 
tion,  and  thus  lead  him  to  consecrate  his  whole 
being  to  God. 

Before  we  explain,  however,  the  relations  which 
the  Catholic  Worship  bears  to  this  aspect  of 
Human  Nature,  let  us  see  what  Protestantism 
says  to  it.  How  does  Protestantism  propose  to 
meet  these  essential  wants  Does  it  give  a  wel¬ 
come  to  them,  or  does  it  exclude  them  from  its 
sanctuary  with  an  unnatural  and  hostile  spirit  ? 

■  The  votaries  of  the  Great  Reformation,  in  their 
zeal  for  purifying  Christian  Worship,  plundered 


31b 


CATHOLICITY. 


or  destroyed  in  the  houses  of  God  all  that  was 
costly  and  beautiful,  that  is,  all  that  was  calcu¬ 
lated  to  charm  the  senses  and  captivate  the 
imagination,  and  direct  the  soul  heavenward. 
Alas  !  their  zeal  was  not  satisfied  with  this  ;  they 
attacked  the  rites  and  ceremonies,  many  of  which 
were  instituted  by  the  Saviour,  and  others  hallow¬ 
ed  by  the  practice  of  the  apostles  and  the  early 
Christians.  These  were  denounced  as  being 
grossly  superstitious  and  damnably  idolatrous. 
Christian  worship  was  reduced,  in  many  cases,  to 
the  delivery  of  a  dull  and  prolix  sermon,  with  a 
hymn  at  the  commencement  and  the  close,  led  ofi 
by  a  sexton  with  a  nasal  twang  ;  and  this  was 
called,  forsooth,  a  godly  worship,^"  while  others 
carried  out  the  Protestant  view  of  Christian 
worship  to  its  logical  results  by  abolishing  the 
priesthood,  and  cast  aside  all  sacraments,  ceremo¬ 
nies,  customs,  and  religious  rites. 

Thus,  Protestantism,  by  repudiating  religious 
ceremonies,  has  unfeelingly  left  an  essential  and 
important  part  of  man’s  nature  unprovided  for, 
and  by  this  meagre  and  one-sided  view  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  has  deprived  itself  of  the  most  poweiful  and 
popular  means  of  making  men  Christians,  and 
leading  them  to  the  great  end  of  their  existence. 
And  now,  how  stands  the  case  with  Catholicity  ? 


APPLIANCES. 


317 


Does  slie  regard  tliis  aspect  of  our  nature  with  a 
friendly  eye,  endeavor  to  meet  its  demands,  and 
spiritualize  and  elevate  these  instincts  by  holy 
influences  to  the  highest  and  purest  aims  ? 

Who  can  describe  the  perfect  and  complete 
adaptation  of  Catholic  Worship  to  the  instinctive 
tastes  and  longings  of  man’s  nature  ? 

“  For  not  of  earthly  moulding  are  her  forms.” 

What  words  can  convey  the  impressions  not 
unfrequently  made  on  beholding  even  the  material 
Temple  of  Catholic  Worship,  whose  walls  are 
adorned  with  the  most  precious  works  of  genius, 
inspired  by  her  own  faith  and  love,  and  in  which 
her  marvellous  Kitual  is  reahzed  in  stone  ? 
Whatever  be  one’s  creed,  few  can  stand  before  her 
altars  without  experiencing  a  sentiment  of  religious 
awe,  and  something  akin  to  a  benediction.  “No 
one,”  says  Madame  de  Stael,  “  ever  enters  into 
the  Catholic  Churches  without  feeling  an  emotion 
which  does  the  soul  good,  and  like  a  sacred  ablu¬ 
tion  imparts  to  it  strength  and  its  word.” 

“  Happy  are  they,”  writes  another,  in  a  simi¬ 
lar  strain,  “  whose  faith  needs  no  such  appliances, 
who  feel  the  overshadowing  presence  of  God  alike 
in  solitude  and  society,  upon  the  mountain  top,  in 


•  r>e  Lalle.  tom.  1,  p.  6i. 


318 


CATHOLICITY. 


the  market-place,  in  the  tasteless  parish  church, 
and  around  the  domestic  hearth.  But  with  most 
of  us  the  world  is  too  much  present.  Its  cares 
engross  ;  its  pleasures  intoxicate  ;  its  sorrows  and 
disappointments  oppress  us.  Few  are  the  mo¬ 
ments  in  which  our  spirits  lie  exposed  to  the 
highest  influences,  neither  darkened  by  despair, 
nor  giddy  through  self-confidence,  nor  influenced 
by  earth-born  passions.  For  nature,  conscious  of 
inborn  struggle,  of  wings  that  are  often  clogged,  and 
sometimes  paralyzed — these  glorious  structures 
are  reared  !  Their  walls  and  spaces  seem  yet 
instinct  with  the  love  and  faith  that  laid  the 
stones  and  carved  the  saints.  Transient  and  soon 
efiaced  as  the  impression  which  they  leave  may 
be,  they  are  yet  aids  and  allies  for  which  he  who 
is  most  conscious  of  his  weakness  will  be  the 
most  grateful.'" 

If  the  material  Temples  of  the  Catholic  Faith 
have  so  religious  an  influence  on  the  mind,  and 
that  it  has  a  non-catholic  witness  ought  to  be 
satisfactory  proof,  how  much  greater  must  be  that 
of  her  ancient  Rites  and  sacred  Ceremonies  !  In 
proof  of  this  let  a  philosopher  speak  : — 

Happy  are  they,"  says  the  eloquent  Cousin, 
‘^who  at  Rome,  at  the  Vatican,  in  the  solemnities 


*  Hilliard's  Italy,  yoL  2, 185& 


APPLIANCES. 


319 


of  the  Catholic  Worship,  have  heard  the  melodies 
of  Leo,  of  Durante,  of  Pergolese,  from  the  old 
consecrated  text.  They  have  had  a  moment's 
glimpse  of  heaven,  their  soul  may  have  entered 
therein  without  distinction  of  rank,  of  country,  ol 
even  belief,  by  the  degrees  which  itself  would 
choose,  by  wings  invisible  and  mysterious,  com¬ 
posed  and  tissued,  so  to  speak,  of  all  simple,  nat¬ 
ural,  universal  sentiments,  which,  on  all  points  of 
the  earth,  draw  from  the  breast  of  the  human 
creature  a  sigh  towards  the  other  world."  * 

Now  let  us  give  place  to  the  testimony  of  a 
Protestant  Presbyterian  minister  in  favor  of  the 
effect  of  Catholic  Worship. 

I  often  go,"  says  the  Rev.  H.  M.  Field,  “  to 
the  convent  of  Trinita  dei  Monti,  to  hear  the  nuns 
sing  their  evening  hymn,  and  it  would  be  quite 
impossible  for  me  to  describe  the  effect  upon  my 
feelings.  I  listen  till  my  heart  dissolves.  It 
seems  as  if  some  choir  of  the  Blessed  were  chant¬ 
ing  a  celestial  hymn  ;  as  if  that  tender  and  plain¬ 
tive  melody,  which  comes  to  bear  up  my  soul  from 
gloom,  were  the  distant  music  of  Angels. 

“  Ofttimes,  too,  at  such  hour,  I  see  the  most 
simp'e  and  earnest  devotion  kneeling  on  the  pave¬ 
ment  of  the  Church.  I  ask  no  questions,  but 


♦  Du  Vrai  et  de  1’ Art. 


320 


CATHOLICITY. 


there  is  a  look  that  tells  me  that  the  thoughts  of 
the  worshipper  are  fixed  on  something  beyond  the 
world, — a  look  of  sorrow  and  yet  of  peace.  And 
often  I  say  to  myself,  as  I  see  men  and  women 
who  have  led  a  life  of  extreme  poverty  or  suffering 
kneeling  on  the  Church  floor :  While  we  sneer  at 
their  worship,  these  poor  beings  are  ascending  to 
heaven.'’^ 

Volumes  might  be  filled  with  the  testimony 
of  Protestants  to  illustrate  the  religious  effective¬ 
ness  of  Catholic  Devotions  ;  but  we  can  give  only 
one  more,  and  that  from  a  Methodist  preacher. 

“It  is  difficult  for  a  Protestant,’"  says  Dr. 
Durbin,  “  unaccustomed  to  the  pomp  and  pa¬ 
geantry  of  the  Catholic  service  in  Europe,  to  con¬ 
ceive  of  the  power  over  the  imagination  and  feel¬ 
ings  of  the  multitude,  nay,  even  of  cultivated 
minds,  educated  in  the  midst  of  these  magical 
associations.  Luther  says  himself,  that  while 
walking  next  the  Host  in  a  procession,  the  thought 
that  the  Lord  himself  was  present  suddenly  struck 
his  imagination,  and  so  overawed  him,  that  it  was 
with  difficulty  he  went  forward  ;  a  cold  sweat 
came  over  him  ;  he  staggered,  and  thought  he 
should  die  in  the  agony  of  fear.  What,  then,  must 
the  illiterate  multitude  feel,  whose  faith  obeys  im- 


*  4  Letter  from  Rome. 


APPLIANCES, 


321 


plicitly  the  impression  made  upon  the  senses  ? 
And  in  cultivated  minds,  in  proportion  to  the  nat¬ 
ural  feeling  of  the  individual,  and  the  depth,  of  his 
belief  in  these  representations,  will  be  the  inten¬ 
sity  of  his  devotion  under  their  influence.  Nay, 
even  for  an  enlightened  Protestant  there  is  an 
elevation  and  majesty  in  many  of  these  forms, 
pressing  into  their  service  as  they  do  the  mighty 
influence  of  the  higher  arts,  filling  the  eye  with 
images  of  beauty,  and  the  ear  with  the  richest 
tones  of  harmony,  that  enchain  his  attention,  and 
captivate  his  imagination.'"^ 

These  minds,  so  appreciative  of  the  influence 
and  impressiveness  of  the  Catholic  Worship,  are 
only  in  the  outward  courts  of  her  temples.  What 
would  they  experience  were  their  souls  flooded 
with  sufficient  light  to  see  in  all  their  wonderful 
significance  these  tremendous  mysteries,  and  their 
hearts  open  to  receive  the  exquisite  consolations 
which  these  solemn  ceremonies  express  and  con¬ 
vey  ! 

Let  us  enter,  with  such  a  one,  a  Catholic 
Church,  but  let  us  select  one  of  those  noble  struc¬ 
tures  which  stand  forth  so  grandly  as  emblems  of 
Catholic  Faith,  piety  and  genius.  The  high- 
wrought  vaulted  roof,  the  tall  aspiring  arches,  the 

•  ObstTvations  in  Europe,  p.  78. 


14* 


322 


CATHOJ-iCITT. 


angels  with  their  outspread  wings,  as  if  guarding 
with  theii  sculptured  beauty  the  sacred  treasures 
within,  ihe  statues  of  the  holy  Apostles,  martyrs 
and  saints,  in  attitude  of  heavenly  contemplation 
or  ecstatic  love  ;  the  stained  windows  with  their 
beautifully  executed  Scripture  stories,  and  as  we 
advance,  appearing  above  the  great  altar  the  image 
of  our  crucified  Saviour,  looking  down  with  the 
suffering  love  and  pity  which  God  alone  can  feel ; 
the  tomh-shaped  altar  and  the  lighted  tapers,  car¬ 
rying  us  hack  to  the  shrines  of  the  martyrs  upon 
which  the  primitive  Christians  offered  up  the  sac¬ 
rifice  in  the  dark  Catacombs  of  Kome  ;  flowers  the 
most  generous  and  gracious  of  nature's  gifts,  with 
their  beauty  and  fragrance  embellishing  the  altar 
where  bread  and  wine,  nature's  flesh  and  blood, 
await  the  offering, — the  moment  now  has  arrived 
for  the  great  sacrifice  to  begin, — preceded  by 
white-robed  boys  swinging  their  silver  censers, 
enter  the  priest,  deacon,  and  sub-deacon,  with 
folded  hands,  and  robed  in  vestments  of  gorgeous 
hues  and  richest  textures  ;  the  high-born  woman 
and  lowly  peasant,  the  master  and  the  slave,  the 
learned  and  the  illiterate,  gray-headed  old  age  and 
rosy  youth,  the  sick  and  the  sorrowful,  the  clean 
and  the  unclean,  all  classes  without  distinction  of 
ranks  or  race  before  the  Catliolic  altar  kneeling  side 


APPLIANCES. 


323 


by  side,  all  equal  in  the  presence  of  that  crucified 
Grod,  only  more  precious  in  His  sight  the  humblest 
and  poorest  of  them  all. 

But  the  Sacrifice  has  begun,  the  Priest  at  the 
foot  of  the  altar  has  made  the  sign  of  the  Cross 
upon  his  breast,  invoking  the  names  of  the  most 
holy  Trinity ;  subdued  strains  of  the  organ  are 
floating  among  the  graceful  arches,  clouds  of  in¬ 
cense  ascend  as  in  solemn  hut  varied  tones  the 
prayers,  the  Epistle,  and  the  Gospel  are  sung  ;  in 
joyous  notes  the  Priest  intones  the  Gloria  in 
Excelsis,”  whilst  the  choir  takes  up  and  continues 
to  the  end  in  exultant  strains  this  angelic  hymn 
of  praise  ;  in  more  earnest  strains  begins  the 
Credo,’^  and  right  well  is  it  that  this  should  he 
sung,  as  this  Credo”  is  the  elementary  expres¬ 
sion  not  only  of  the  true,  hut  also  of  the  good  and 
beautiful. 

The  most  solemn  part  of  this  august  Sacrifice 
now  commences  by  the  Priest's  chanting  the 
Preface  ;  ”  he  begins  with  the  following  appeals 
to  the  devotion  of  the  people, — Dominus  vo- 
biscum,”  The  Lord  be  with  you,  Et  cum  spiritu 
tuo,”  And  with  thy  spirit,  the  faithful  respond  ; 
“  Sursum  Corda,”  Lift  up  your  hearts,  Habemus 
ad  Dominum,”,We  have  lifted  them  up  unto  the 
Lord  ;  Gratias  agamus  Domino  Deo  nostro,”  Let 


324 


CATHOLICITY. 


US  give  thanks  to  the  Lord  our  God,  “  Dignum  et 
justum  est/’  It  is  meet  and  just ;  the  Priest  then 
continues  alone  the  Preface  in  a  chant  which  re¬ 
calls  the  worship  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome  ; 
thus  between  the  Priest  and  the  people  alternating 
with  sweet  and  solemn  strains  of  music,  amid 
rising  clouds  of  sweet-smelling  incense,  the  blaze 
of  tapers,  the  sound  of  tinkling  hells,  divine  wor¬ 
ship  goes  on  ; — in  this  manner  all  the  senses  have 
been  appealed  to,  each  with  its  own  pecuKar 
charm  ;  the  imagination  is  captivated  by  what  is 
hallowed  and  beautiful,  and  the  mind  is  elevated 
to  the  contemplation  of  heavenly  things  as  the 
heart  is  filled  with  devotion  and  awe  ; — all  that 
can  combine  to  make  a  worship  grand,  solemn, 
and  imposing, — Heaven  and  Earth,  Men  and  An¬ 
gels,  and  the  most  precious  gifts  of  nature  anl 
art  are  divinely  joined  in  this  one  grand  act  o'^^ 
Religion  ! 

But  still  more  is  designed  to  complete  this  act 
of  Divine  Worship,  and  this  is  God  ;  God,  not  as 
in  the  Jewish  Temple,  His  presence  concealed 
behind  a  cloud,  but  truly  and  really  the  present 
Godhead  in  his  own  Divine  Person.  Neither  is 
this  refused  ; — at  the  awful  moment  a  hushed 
silence  reigns  throughout  the  kneeling  throng, 
which  is  only  broken  by  the  sound  of  bells,  by  the 


APPLIANCES. 


325 


falling  of  the  censer  chains,  and  softened  tones 
of  the  organ  ;  and  now  the  Priest,  by  the  divine 
might  of  his  ordination,  pronounces  the  sacred 
words  of  consecration  over  the  elements  of  bread 
and  wine,  and  their  substance  is  changed  into  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  where¬ 
with  is  his  Soul  and  Divinity.  Behold  God,  the 
great  God,  the  all-loving  and  eternal  God,  really, 
truly,  and  personally  present  on  the  altar  of  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  while  they  with  clasped  hands,  bowed  down 
heads,  humbled  minds  and  hearts,  penetrated  by 
gratitude  and  love,  adore  in  their  Temple  Him 
whom  the  Heaven  of  Heavens  cannot  contain  ! 

And  does  this  really  sublime  and  all-compre¬ 
hensive  act  of  Worship  end  here  ?  Was  there 
ever  one  conceived  so  wonderfully  adapted  to  man's 
twofold  nature  of  matter  and  spirit  ?  “It  is 
surely  complete,"  may  well  exclaim  the  earnest 
soul  who  entered  with  us.  But  no.  Catholic 
Worship  has  not  in  this  reached  its  highest  ex¬ 
pression.  There  is  a  more  sublime  act  of  Religion 
than  prayer,  or  praise,  or  even  adoration,  and  that 
is.  Communion  with  God.  For  Divine  Worship, 
to  reach  its  highest  aim,  must  end  in  union  of  the 
soul  with  God,  and  that  in  the  most  direct  and 
perfect  way  possible. 

The  Sacrifice  continues  and  becomes  the  Sacra- 


526 


CATHOLICITY, 


ment  of  Communion  of  Love.  The  Priest  lifts  up 
his  voice  and  chants  aloud  the  Lord's  Prayer/* 
xnd  while  reciting  in  secret  several  prayers  pre¬ 
paratory  to  communion,  the  choir  sings  the  Ag¬ 
nus  Dei  ; "  after  having  received  the  consecrated 
elements,  he  communicates  the  Holy  Sacrament 
to  the  faithful.  Oh  wonderful  mystery  !  God 
dwells  in  the  hearts  of  his  creatures  corporally  ! 
Man  participates  in  the  Divinity  !  God  and  Man 
become  One  ! 

Prayers  of  thanksgiving  follow  ;  the  Deacon, 
turning  to  the  people,  sings  ^‘.Ite  missa  est," 
Go,  the  mass  is  ended  ;  the  Priest  kisses  the  altaj 
where  lie  the  relics  of  martyrs  and  saints,  and, 
turning  to  the  people,  raises  his  consecrated  hands 
and  bestows  upon  them  the  Benediction  ; "  the 
last  Gospel  ”  is  read  in  silence,  and  the  Priest, 
with  his  white-robed  boys  and  assistants,  leaves 
the  altar  and  the  sanctuary,  for  the  great  function 
of  the  Catholic  Worship  is  now  indeed  completed. 

Oh  that  we  could  find  language  to  convey  that 
which  passes  within  the  hearts  of  pious  Catholics 
at  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  !  But  we  are 
not  writing  for  them  ;  our  purpose  is  do  carry 
some  light  into  the  minds  of  those  who,  not  pos¬ 
sessing  the  precious  gift  of  Catholic  Faith,  see 
only  the  splendor  of  her  visible  glory,  and  not  the 
Divinity  which  is  within. 


APPLIANCES, 


327 


Although  the  celebration  of  Solemn  High  Mass 
is  the  grandest  rite  of  the  Catholic  Kitual,  yet  it 
by  no  means  exhausts  the  rich  treasures  of  her 
ceremonial  expression.  This  allows  her  to  give  to 
her  children  full  liberty  to  choose  what  is  best 
suited  to  their  tastes,  without  requiring,  as  among 
the  sects,  each  individual  to  constrain  himself  to 
one,  fixed,  invariable  form.  Like  a  true  mother, 
she  supplies  so  generously  from  her  unfaihng 
wealth,  that  the  most  ardent  imagination  may  he 
satiated,  whilst  she  leaves  the  more  retired  at 
liberty  to  adopt  what  they  may  find  most  congenial 
to  the  spirit  of  their  devotion.  She  is  like  a  garden 
filled  with  every  variety  of  enchanting  flowers, 
through  which  her  children  may  pass,  selecting 
those  which  please  them  most ;  and,  whatever 
their  choice  may  he,  she  is  equally  content,  since 
her  only  aim  is  to  attract  each  soul  in  its  own 
natural  way,  and  lead  it  to  worship  the  one,  only, 
true  God. 

Hence  the  Catholic  Church  is  equally  adapted 
to  the  class  of  minds  which  is  less  influenced  and 
impressed  by  religious  ceremonies,  minds  of  a 
simple  form  and  mould.  She  does  not  require  the 
presence  of  such  at  those  functions  when  it  appears 
as  if  she  exhausted  her  rich  treasures  to  engage 
the  senses  and  captivate  the  imasrination.  To 


328 


CATHOLICITY. 


such  the  great  mysteries  and  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  faith  are  in  their  simplicity  equally  im¬ 
pressive,  and  even  perhaps  more  so,  when  un¬ 
adorned  and  expressed  in  the  plainest  manner. 
For  such  there  is  the  Low  Mass,  with  its  simple 
and  rapid  rites,  so  silent  and  solemn,  that  the 
most  rigid  Spiritualist  would  fail  to  suffer  distrac¬ 
tion.  Her  Temples,  too,  are  always  open,  within 
which  one  may  retire,  and,  in  heavenly  silence  and 
repose,  rest  in  the  presence  of  God.  She  sanctions 
the  spirit  which  leads  the  hermit  into  the  desert, 
there  alone  with  the  beauty  of  nature  to  commune 
with  Heaven,  no  less  than  that  which  asks  the 
aid  of  her  magnificent  service  to  enable  it  to  rise 
to  the  contemplation  of  the  First  True,  the  First 
Good,  the  First  Fair. 


XXXIV 


*  My  spirit  yearns  to  bring 

The  lost  ones  back — yearns  with  desire  intense— > 
And  struggles  hard  to  wring 

The  bolts  apart,  and  pluck  thy  captives  thence.” 

Betant. 


M 


AN  possesses  powers  which  extend  far  beyond 
the  visible  world,  into  the  realms  of  the  un¬ 
seen,  for  he  is  essentially  a  spiritual  being.  One 
of  the  deepest  yearnings  of  his  soul  is  to  commu¬ 
nicate  with  those  of  the  spirit  world. 

That  the  dead  are  seen  no  more,’'  says  Dr. 
Johnson,  I  will  not  'undertake  to  maintain, 
against  the  concurrent  testimony  of  all  ages  and 
of  all  nations.  There  is  no  people,  rude  or 
learned,  among  whom  apparitions  of  the  dead  are 
not  related  and  believed.  This  opinion,  which 
prevails  as  far  as  human  nature  is  diffused,  could 
become  universal  only  by  its  truth  ;  those  who 


330 


CATHOLICITY. 


never  heard  of  one  another,  would  not  have  agreed 
in  a  tale  which  nothing  but  experience  can  make 
credible.  That  it  is  doubted  by  single  cavillers, 
can  very  little  weaken  the  general  evidence  ;  and 
some  who  deny  it  with  their  tongues,  confess  it  by 
their  fears.^^  * 

Let  us  then  not  imagine,^'  says  the  celebrated 
Dr.  C banning,  that  the  usefulness  of  the  good 
IS  finished  at  death.  Then  rather  does  it  begin. 
Let  us  not  judge  of  their  state  by  associations 
drawn  from  the  stillness  and  silence  of  the  grave. 
They  have  gone  to  the  abodes  of  life,  of  warmth 
and  action.  They  have  gone  to  fill  a  larger  place 
in  the  system  of  God.  Death  has  expanded  their 
powers.  The  clogs  and  fetters  of  the  perishable 
body  have  fallen  off,  that  they  may  act  more  freely 
and  with  more  delight  in  the  grand  system  of  cre¬ 
ation  ....  It  would  be  grateful  to  believe  that 
their  infiuence  reaches  to  the  present  state,  and 
we  certainly  are  not  forbidden  to  indulge  the 
hope.”  f 

It  is  not  only  consoling  to  believe  thus,  but  so 
deeply  rooted  is  the  conviction,  that  there  are 
moments  when  it  asserts  its  vitality,  in  spite  of 
our  creeds  or  ourselves. 

In  Dr.  Johnson’s  journal  of  March  28,  1V53, 


KasseUa 


t  Memoirs,  p.  27& 


FELLOWSHIP.  331 

we  find  :  “  I  kept  this  day  as  the  anniversary  of 
my  Tetty’s  death,  with  prayers  and  tears  in  the 
morning.  In  the  evening,  I  prayed  for  her  con¬ 
ditionally,  if  it  were  lawful.”  And  in  a  prayer 
which  he  wrote,  he  supplicates  that  he  may  en¬ 
joy  the  good  effects  of  the  attention  and  ministra¬ 
tion  of  his  departed  wife.”  f 

Here  is  a  true  expression  of  a  secret  and  spon¬ 
taneous  instinct  of  the  human  heart ;  for  who 
believes,  when  kneeling  by  the  grave  of  the  loved 
and  lost,  that  the  sacred  ties  of  friendship  and 
affection,  eternal  as  the  laws  of  his  being,  are 
wholly  severed  ?  Does  he  not  rather,  at  that 
hour,  become  aware,  for  the  first  time,  how  close 
were  the  bonds  that  bound  him  to  the  departed, 
and  exclaim,  in  grateful  relief :  The  living  and 
the  dead  indeed  make  one  communion  ! 

Dr.  Channing,  in  writing  to  a  friend  on  the 
death  of  his  child,  says  :  Our  child  is  lost  to  our 
sight,  hut  not  to  our  faith  and  hope,  perhaps  not 
to  our  beneficent  influences.  Is  there  no  means 
of  gratifying  our  desire  of  promoting  his  happiness  ? 
The  living  and  dead  make  one  communion.”  J 

V ery  curious  and  interesting  as  a  trait  of 
character  and  feeling  is  the  passage,”  says  Mrs. 
Jameson,  in  speaking  of  Niebuhr,  ^^in  which  he 

•  BoevreU's  life.  t  Ibid.  t  Memoirs,  p.  m 


332 


CATHOLICITY. 


represents  himself,  in  the  dangerous  confinement 
of  his  second  wife,  as  praying  to  his  first  wife  for 
succor/' 

In  my  terrible  anxiety,"  he  says,  I  prayed 
most  earnestly  and  entreated  my  Milly,  too,  for 
help.  I  comforted  Gretchen  hy  telling  her  that 
Milly  would  send  her  help.  When  she  was  at  the 
worst,  she  sighed  out,  ‘  Oh,  cannot  your  Amelia 
send  me  a  blessing  ?  '  " 

This  is  curious,"  continues  the  narrator  of 
the  anecdote,  from  a  Protestant  and  a  Philoso¬ 
pher.  It  shows  that  there  may  he  something 
nearly  allied  to  our  common  nature  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  invocation  to  the  saints,  and  to  the  souls 
of  the  dead."  * 

The  religions  of  all  nations,  with  each  individual 
consciousness,  witness  to  the  hehef  of  mankind  in 
a  communion  between  the  soul  and  spirits,  between 
the  living  and  the  departed.  The  ancient  religions 
of  Egypt,  China,  Greece,  Rome,  of  the  Britons, 
Australians  and  American  Indians,  give  the  same 
testimony.  Also  the  belief  in  magi,  soothsaving 
conjurations,  necromancy,  and  every  other  super¬ 
stitious  practice,  which  places  us,  as  is  supposed, 
in  secret  relations  with  the  inhabitants  of  another 
world. 


Thoagbts  and  Memoirs,  p.  201. 


FELLOWSHIP. 


333 


The  demon  of  Socrates,  the  spectre  of  Brutus, 
the  guardian  of  Caesar,  give  the  same  confirmation. 
The  histories  of  Mahomet,  Cromwell,  Napoleon, 
Jacob  Bbehme,  Swedenborg,  Rousseau,  Fourrier, 
and  the  works  of  all  the  celebrated  poets,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  are  stamped  with  the  strong¬ 
est  evidence  of  the  working  of  this  instinct  in  the 
soul  ;  and  they  owe  not  a  little  of  their  genius  and 
popularity  to  its  strange  workings  and  fascinating 
power. 

One  of  the  highest  purposes  of  Religion,  if  it 
means  any  thing,  is  to  reveal  to  man  the  invisible 
world,  and  bring  him  into  closer  communion  with 
its  inhabitants,  by  teaching  him  to  live  more  com¬ 
pletely  under  its  spiritual  influences,  because  he 
is  destined  to  move  in  its  sphere,  and  there,  amidst 
its  glorious  spirits,  enjoy  perfect  bliss.  Religion 
must  do  this,  for,  if  she  fails,  men  seek,  in  a  blind 
hope,  the  gratiflcation  of  this  instinct  elsewhere. 

Hence  the  origin  and  extension  of  spiritualism 
in  Protestant  communities,  and  the  vain  endeavors 
to  quiet  the  restlessness  of  unsatisfled  hearts  by 
table-tipping,  rappings,  mediums,  and  other  fatal 
experiments  ;  for  Protestantism  has  signally  failed 
to  direct  the  religious  nature  of  man  to  a  perfect 
development. 

“  The  number  of  spiritualists,''  says  a  public 


334 


CATHOLICITY. 


journal,  is  gradually  increasing  in  tliid  country, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  number  of  journals  which 
are  devoted  to  its  interests.  There  are  nine  weekly 
newspapers  and  six  monthly  magazines  engaged 
in  defending  its  principles  and  maintaining  its 
cause.  Seven  of  the  media  practice  the  healing 
art,  their  pharmacopoeia  being  a  collection  of 
recipes  from  the  spirit  land.  Some  merely  describe 
the  character  of  diseases.  Some  of  them  make  use 
of  the  electro-medicated  baths,  which  are  made 
ready  by  females. 

“  Other  media  remain  at  the  threshold  of  the 
science,  content  with  the  first  step  of  induction. 
These  tip  tables,  write  letters  from  the  other 
world,  describe  persons  out  of  the  form,''  set 
chairs  and  bells  in  motion,  and  phosphoric  fire  .  .  . 
Others  test  the  truth  of  their  claims  by  communi¬ 
cating  with  the  dead,  whose  awful  and  mysterious 
fate  is  developed  to  anxious  friends,  not  often  in 
the  language  they  were  wont  to  use  when  living, 
or  with  much  regard  to  orthography,  etymology, 
syntax  or  prosody. 

A  society  exists  for  the  diffusion  of  spiritual 
knowledge,  which  is  in  ^uU  activity  ;  and  there 
are  eighteen  lecturers,  of  both  sexes,  who  are 
recognized  as  authorities  in  their  peculiar  vocation. 
There  are  initiatory  circles  for  the  conversion  of 


FELLOWSHIP, 


335 


unbelievers,  and  others  where  things  unutterable' 
are  witnessed  by  the  spirit  communists. 

The  effect  of  spiritualism  on  individual  char¬ 
acter  has  thus  far  not  been  happy.  In  .most  of 
the  cases  those  persons  who  have  given  themselves 
up  to  it,  appear  to  be  completely  disorganized 
They  leave  their  former  pursuits  in  life,  they  sink 
from  their  professional  and  business  standing,  and 
strange  and  wild  expressions  fasten  upon  their 
countenances — ^  they  seem  to  walk  in  a  vain  show, 
disquieting  themselves  in  vain."  Suicide  has  at¬ 
tended  in  the  train,  and  every  few  days  we  hear 
of  departures  for  the  spirit-land,  of  the  most  sin¬ 
gular  and  melancholy  character."’ 

These  are  the  deadly  fruits  of  the  religion  of 
the  16th  century,  which  falsely  charged  the  ancient 
Christian  faith  with  superstition,  and  pretended 
to  emancipate  the  human  mind  by  a  purified  gos¬ 
pel.  Men  had  repudiated  angels  and  saints,"" 
says  one  of  its  own  votaries,  “  but  they  still  de¬ 
voutly  believed  in  devils  and  witches.  The  benign 
miracles  of  female  charity  were  the  inventions  and 
impositions  of  a  lying  priesthood  ;  but  woe  unto 
him  who  doubted  the  power  of  an  old  woman  to 
ride  on  a  broomstick,  or  of  a  young  woman  to 
entertain  Satan  as  her  emissary  in  mischief !  AH 
the  women  who  perished  by  judicial  condemnation, 


336 


CATHOLICITY. 


lieres^^  in  tlie  days  of  the  Inquisition,  did  not 
equal  the  number  cf  women  condemned  judicially 
as  witches,  hanged,  tortured,  burned,  drowned  like 
small  dogs,  in  the  first  century  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  and  these  horrors  were  enacted  in  the 
most  civilized  countries  in^  Europe,  by  grave 
magistrates  and  ecclesiastics,  who  were  proud  of 
having  thrown  ofi*  the  Roman  yoke  and  of  reading 
their  Bihle/^  ^ 

And  now,  what  direction  does  the  Catholic 
religion  give  to  these  spiritual  instincts  of  man 
which  point  beyond  the  grave  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  teaches  that  man  has  the 
most  intimate  relations  with  the  brightest  and 
most  beautiful  of  all  Grod^s  creatures,  the  Blessed 
Angels. 

The  Angels  are  commissioned,^^  so  teaches  the 
Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  ^‘by  Divine 
Providence  to  guard  the  human  race,  and  to  he 
present  with  every  man  to  protect  him  from  injury. 
As  parents,  when  their  children  have  occasion  to 
travel  a  dangerous  way  infested  by  robbers,  appoint 
persons  to  guard  and  assist  them  in  case  of  an 
attack,  so  has  our  Heavenly  Father  placed  over 
each  of  us,  in  our  journey  towards  our  heavenly 
country,  Angels,  guarded  by  whose  vigilance  and 

•  Mrs.  Jameson.  Sisters  of  Charity,  p.  28JI. 


FELLOWSHIP. 


337 


assistance,  we  may  escape  the  ambushes  of  oui 
enemies,  repel  their  fierce  attacks,  and  proceed 
directly  on  our  journey,  secured  by  their  guiding 
protection  against  the  devious  tracks  into  which 
our  treacherous  enemy  would  mislead  us,  and  pur¬ 
suing  steadily  the  path  that  leads  to  heaven/^ 

In  regard  to  the  important  advantages  which 
flow  to  the  human  race  from  this  special  superin¬ 
tending  Providence,  the  functions  and  the  admin¬ 
istrations  of  which  are  intrusted  to  Angels,  who 
hold  a  middle  place  between  man  and  the  Divinity,” 
the  same  Catechism  cites  several  instances,  among 
others  that  of  the  Angel  Kaphael,  who  was  ap¬ 
pointed  by  God  the  companion  and  guide  oP 
Tobias,”  and  the  Angel  who  delivered  the  Prince, 
of  the  Apostles  from  prison,”  and  it  concludes  in 
the  following  words  :  The  Sacred  Scriptures 

abound  in  examples  which  give  us  an  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  benefit  conferred  on  us  by  the 
ministry  of  Angels,  whose  tutelary  protection  is 
not  confined  to  particular  occasions  or  persons,  but 
extends  to  each  individual  of  the  human  race,  from 
the  hour  of  birth.”* 

Consonant  with  Catholic  belief.  Saint  Thomas^ 
the  Angelic  Doctor,  teaches,  that  there  are  ala\ 
orders  of  Angels  who  guard  and  protect  commi’ 
oities  and  nations.”  f 

*  0»  th«  word  “  Father  ”  in  the  Lord’s  Prayer. 


ArtSL 


S38 


CA  TBOLICITT. 


On  the  same  rabject  Saint  AngTirdne  beanti- 
follv  sav5 :  From  the  bos'll!!  of  the  soTeiehni 

*  *  w 

beatimde  ■which  the  Angels  pztssess  in  the  holy 
citT,  the  celesda]  Jemsalem.  from  which  we  are 
now  exileA  these  blessed  syiiits  watch  over  ns,  in 
order  to  brinii  ns  bach  to  this  common  connnT, 
where  we  will  one  dav  be  satiate*!  in  drawini:  ■with 
them  6om  the  ditine  sjnroe  of  eternal  tmth.®  ^ 

The  srrcnnd  for  the  h:*n«or  paid  to  the  Andreis 
in  the  Catholic  Chnreh,  is  that  law  of  our  toeing 
which  exacts  cf  ns  homaiie  to  exalted  di^nitr  and 

,W.  W  • 

virtue  of  evert  hind.  The  An^ls  are  the  ideal  c*f 
oar  own  sj'irimalitT  realized,  and  onr  c>:*imnnnica- 
ti:*n  with  them  tends  to  elevate  and  to  assimilate 
onr  narores  in  pnnty  and  j-ertectijn  P:*  theirs.  Our 
devout  anection  for  these  purest  creatims  rehnes 
the  heart,  and  ■with  a  tender  oc»nh«dence  aids  onr 
apprrach  to  our  c*:>mmc>n  Parent. 

Our  :&cnlty  oi  cv-inmnniin  with  the  sp»iiirQal 
world  is  not  exhansted  bv  ctor  relations  with  the 
Angels.  The  Catholic  Faith  teaches,  that  “  The 
Saints,  reigninz  ■with  Christ,  cfDter  up  their  prayers 
to  Gc«gL  fjr  men  ;  that  it  is  geed  and  pK-fitable 
snppliantly  to  invoke  them,  and  to  have  recourse 
to  their  prayers,  help,  and  asEstance,  to  obtain 
favors  from  Gcd,  throngh  his  .Sc»n.  J esns  Christ  ouj 
Lord,  who  alone  is  our  Eedeemer  and  Saviour.'’  j 

*  CmitmH  sf  l-ran.  Sa.  5?  D*  ts'rab 


*  €•>  Paahx  fi. 


F  ELLOWSHIP. 


339 


The  CathoKc  doctrine  regarding  the  Saints  is, 
therefore,  two- fold.  In  the  first  place,  that  the 
Saints  of  Grod  make  intercession  before  him  for 
their  brethren  on  earth  ;  and,  in  the  second  place, 
that  it  is  lawfiil  to  invoke  their  intercession. 

The  effect  of  this  bebef  is  thus  beautifollv 

« 

described  bv  a  Catholic  writer.  “  The  brightness 
of  the  saints  is  naught  else  than  an  irradiation  from 
the  glory  of  Christ,  and  a  proof  of  bis  infinite 
power,  who  out  of  dust  and  sin  is  able  to  raise  up 
eternal  spirits  of  light.  He  who,  therefore,  revereth 
the  Saints,  glorifietb  Christ,  from  whose  power  they 
spring  and  whose  true  di^dnity  they  attest.” 

“  They  are  permanent  models  of  Christ's  life, 
in  whom  the  Saviour  has  stamped  his  own  image, 
in  whom  he,  in  a  thousand  ways,  reflects  himself, 
and  in  whom,  exhibiting  to  us  patterns  for  all  the 
relations  of  life,  he  brings  vividlv  before  our  view 
the  whole  compass  of  virtues  rendered  possible 
through  him.”  * 

O 

The  circle  of  our  relations  with  the  unseen 
world  is  not  completed  with  the  Angels  and  Saints. 
There  exists  a  communion  between  the  hving  and 
the  dead. 

The  Catholic  Church  teaches  that  there  is  a 
place  where  the  souls  of  the  just  are  detained  till 
they  are  purified,  in  order  to  be  admitted  into  their 

*  Mo«hl«r,  Symk 


340 


CATHOLICITY. 


eternal  country,  “  into  which  nothing  defiled  en- 
tereth/"  ‘^For  not  all  believers,  who  have  been 
members  of  this  terrestrial  church,  and  have  de¬ 
parted  from  it,  with  signs  of  the  covenant  of  love, 
enter  immediately,  on  their  passage  to  eternity,  into 
those  relations  of  bliss,  destined,  from  the  begin¬ 
ning,  for  those  who  love  God  in  Christ.  Accord¬ 
ing  as  they  quit  this  earthly  life,  either  slightly 
touched  by  divine  love,  or  by  it  effectually  freed 
from  the  stain  of  sin,  they  pass  into  different  forms 
of  a  new  existence.  The  former  are  transferred  to 
a  state  suited  to  the  still  defective,  moral,  and  re¬ 
ligious  life  of  their  souls,  and  which  is  destined  to 
bring  them  to  perfection  ;  the  latter  to  a  state  of 
happiness,  corresponding  to  their  consummate  sanc¬ 
tification.  The  first,  like  the  members  of  the 
Church  terrestrial,  are  with  reason  included  in  the 
suffering  Church  ;  for  their  peculiar  existence  must 
be  considered  as  one  of  suffering,  for  they  are  not 
only  still  passing  through  the  fire  of  purification, 
but  are  also  subjected  to  punishment,  for  it  de¬ 
pended  on  themselves  alone,  by  the  right  use  of 
their  free  will,  during  their  earthly  career,  to  estab¬ 
lish  themselves  in  a  perfect,  intimate,  and  un¬ 
troubled  union  with  God."'  ^ 

What  is  more  comforting  and  sustaining  to  the 
heart,  what  more  precious  privilege  of  piety  than 

•  Moehler  Symb. 


FELLOWSHIP. 


341 


the  teaching  of  the  Church  that  we,  who  are  on 
this  side  the  grave,  can  by  our  prayers,  by  our 
alms-deeds  and  other  goqd  works,  alleviate  the  suf¬ 
ferings  of  those  beyond  it  ?  How  admirable  is 
this  intercourse  between  the  living  son  and  the 
deceased  father — between  the  mother  and  daugh¬ 
ter — between  husband  and  wife — between  life  and 
death  !  What  affecting  considerations  are  sug¬ 
gested  by  this  tenet  of  religion  !  My  virtue,  in¬ 
significant  being  as  I  am,  becomes  the  common 
property  of  Christians  ;  and,  as  I  participate  in 
the  guilt  of  Adam,  so,  also,  the  good  that  I  possess 
passes  to  the  account  of  others  !  the  prayers  of 
your  Nisus  will  be  felt  by  some  Euryalus  beyond 
the  grave.  The  rich,  whose  charity  you  describe, 
may  well  share  their  abundance  with  the  poor  ; 
for  the  pleasure  which  they  take  in  performing  this 
simple  and  grateful  act,  will  receive  its  reward  from 
the  Almighty  in  the  release  of  their  parents  from 
the  expiatory  fiames.  What  a  beautiful  feature 
in  our  religion,  to  impel  the  heart  of  man  to  virtue 
by  the  power  of  love,  and  to  make  him  feel  that 
the  very  coin  which  gives  bread  to  an  indigent 
fellow-being,  entitles,  perhaps,  some  rescued  soul 
to  an  eternal  position  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.^'* 
What  contrasts  are  presented  in  this  chapter 


*  Chateaubriand 


342 


OATHOLIOITT. 


to  the  intelligent  Reader  !  On  the  one  hand  a 
Religion  pretending  to  he  a  purified  Christianity, 
suppressing  one  of  the  mogt  wonderful  and  deeply- 
rooted  instincts  of  man’s  spiritual  nature,  by  shut¬ 
ting  out  from  his  vision,  and  cutting  off  from  his 
religious  sympathies,  his  relations  with  the  glorious 
spirits  of  Heaven  and  the  blessed  dead  !  A  Religion 
which  admits  the  temptations  and  wicked  influence 
of  the  devil  and  his  fallen  angels  over  men,  while 
it  denies  the  inspiring  and  beneficent  influences  of 
the  Holy  Angels  and  Blessed  Saints  of  God  !  A 
Religion  which  closes  up  the  avenues  of  the  soul 
for  the  reception  of  heavenly  light,  while  it  opens 
them  to  that  darkness  hearing  with  it  the  most 
fearful  and  diabolical  agencies  !  A  Religion  which- 
repudiates  “  The  Communion  of  Saints,”  and  ac¬ 
knowledges  that  of  evil  spirits  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Catholic  Religion  opens 
to  our  vision  the  realms  of  the  invisible  ;  directs 
all  our  spiritual  instincts  heavenward  ;  and  places 
us  in  intimate  relations  with  the  world  of  the  good 
and  blessed.  The  Angels  are  our  constant  com¬ 
panions,  whispering  to  us  heavenly  thoughts  ;  the 
Saints  are  not  idle  spectators,  hut  with  their 
prayers  aid  us  in  our  struggles  and  rejoice  in  our 
triumphs  ;  and  the  departed  accompany  us  in  our 
acts  of  piety  even  to  the  foot  of  God’s  holy  altar. 


FELLOWSHIP. 


343 


Catholicity  makes  the  invisible  world  more  real  to 
her  faithful  children  than  the  world  we  live  in  ; 
the  Angels  and  the  Saints  are  their  constant  com¬ 
panions  ;  their  future  life  is  made  familiar  to  them 
here,  because  their  “  conversation  is  in  heaven.” 

Have  you  not  observed,  inquiring  Reader,  in 
the  faces  of  the  Saints,  such  as  the  old  Catholic 
artists  loved  to  picture  them,  something  angelic, 
celestial,  something  one  knows  not  precisely  what, 
except  that  it  is  of  heaven  ?  Have  you  not  wit¬ 
nessed  something  akin  to  a  smile  awakened  by  the 
sight  of  an  Angel  beaming  from  the  face  of  some 
devout  Catholic  while  at  devotion  ?  What  is 
this  ?  It  is  the  soul  that  has  caught  a  glimpse 
of  heaven,  and,  recovering  its  angelic  beauty  for  a 
moment,  transfigures  the  body.  And  why  is  this 
found  in  Catholicity  alone  ?  It  is  because  the 
Catholic  Religion  alone  sanctions  and  directs  man’s 
spiritual  instincts  into  their  right  channels,  and 
presents  to  them  the  true  and  noblest  objects  of 
gratification. 


XXXV. 


Pmffrials. 


“  The  love 

Of  mighty  minds  doth  hallow,  in  the  core 
Of  human  hearts,  the  ruin  of  a  wall 
Where  dwelt  the  wise  and  wondrous.” 

Bybon. 


INTIMATELY  connected  witli  the  instinct  oi 
communion  with  angelic  spirits  of  the  blessed 
dead,  is  the  feeling  of  veneration  for  the  remains, 
the  monuments,  and  even  the  localities  rendered 
sacred  by  the  gifted  and  the  good,  and  by  the 
heroes  of  humanity. 

How  few  can  be  found  who  have  not  among 
their  heart- treasures  some  trifle,  kept  sacred,  either 
in  memory  of  departed  greatness  or  of  human  love. 
Scarce  a  family,  distinguished  or  obscure,  but  has 
some  relic  of  their  ancestry  which  is  transmitted 
as  an  heir-loom  from  generation  to  generation, 
with  feelings  of  actual  reverence.  Innumerable 


MEMORIALS. 


345 


are  the  monuments  raised  by  nations  in  honor  of 
their  sages,  heroes,  and  distinguished  sons.  The 
remains  of  the  truly  great,  their  shrines,  birth¬ 
places,  dwellings,  and  indeed  whatever  was  asso¬ 
ciated  with  them,  excites  indefinable  sensations  of 
enthusiasm  and  loving  respect.  Stratford-on- 
Avon  does  not  contain  the  remains  of  mere  Eng¬ 
lish  genius — it  is  a  place  of  pilgrimage  to  the 
generous  and  high-hearted  of  all  countries  ;  and 
their  names  are  to  be  found  as  on  the  summit  of 
the  pyramids,  encircling  the  walls  of  Shakspeare's 
house.  At  his  grave  meet  the  gifted  of  all  ages, 
countries,  and  times.’*  Are  not  St.  Paufis  and 
Westminster  Abbey  encircled  with  monuments 
consecrated  to  the  memory  of  the  genius,  heroism, 
and  virtue  of  the  English  people  ?  Are  not  the 
public  parks  of  our  large  cities  adorned  with  the 
statues  of  W ashington  and  those  whom  we  delight 
to  honor  ?  And  a  true  relic  we  find  treasured  in 
one  of  our  public  buildings  at  the  seat  of  Govern¬ 
ment,  a  f  ull  suit  of  dress  belonging  to  the  Father 
of  his  country,**  and  the  coat  and  sword  of  the 
Hero  of  New  Orleans.  What  sums  have  not  been 
paid  for  a  hat  of  Napoleon  I.,  or  a  tooth  of  a  Nel¬ 
son  ?  And  many  of  our  own  countrymen  prize  a 
snuff-box  made  from  the  wood  of  Mount  Vernon, 
^1  a  walking-stick  from  the  frigate  Constitution. 


Z46 


CATHOLICITY. 


No  instinct  is  more  universal  in  its  sympathies, 
more  popular  in  its  expression,  more  natural  to 
man,  than  that  of  veneration  for  the  great,  good, 
and  wise,  and  all  associated  with  their  memories. 
Religion  does  well  in  directing  it  to  its  divine  des¬ 
tination. 

But  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  Protestant  Refor¬ 
mation  did  its  utmost  to  make  a  waste  in  the 
human  heart,  by  destroying  with  blind  hatred 
every  thing  calculated  to  sanctify  and  control  this 
common  sentiment. 

Every  one  is  aware,  who  has  the  slightest  ac¬ 
quaintance  of  the  religion  of  the  Reformers,  that  it 
annihilated,  where  its  sway  was  paramount,  the 
crucifix  and  the  cross,  pictures  of  the  Saviour  and 
the  Virgin  and  blessed  Mother,  and  of  his  Apostles 
and  his  Saints,  the  richly-painted  glass  which 
represented  them,  or  other  pictured  truths  of 
Religion.  Even  the  tombs  of  the  saints  and  mar¬ 
tyrs  were  broken  open,  and  their  consecrated 
relics  destroyed  or  cast  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven. 
So  ardent  were  they  in  their  determination  to  rid 
Christianity  of  all  superstition,  that  they  were  not 
satisfied  with  less  than  robbing  God's  temples  of 
all  that  was  beautiful  or  holy  ;  and  to  obliterate 
their  pictured  walls,  they  whitewashed  them — 
emblematic  indeed  of  their  blank,  barren,  and 
withering  creed. 


MEMORIALS. 


347 


Such  is  the  response  of  the  Keformation  to  our 
universal  respect  for  the  religious  memorials  of 
sanctified  genius  and  holy  heroism.  Had  there 
existed  an  abuse  of  these,  it  would  have  been  a 
most  laudable  enterprise  to  undertake  its  correc¬ 
tion.  But  such  was  not  the  spirit  of  the  Reforma¬ 
tion  ;  possessed  as  it  were  by  the  demon  of  de¬ 
struction,  under  the  mask  of  hatred  to  superstition, 
it  aimed  at  demolishing  the  Church  of  Christ. 

A  religion  professing  to  be  Catholic  would  be 
quite  the  reverse,  if  it  did  not  extend  its  benedic¬ 
tion  to  all  our  primal  instincts,  giving  them  a 
divine  direction.  Hence  it  will  not  be  difficult  for 
us  to  see  how  Catholicity  meets  this  particular 
phase  of  our  inborn  propensities.  The  authorita¬ 
tive  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  this  point  as  de¬ 
clared  by  the  Council  of  Trent  is  as  follows  : 

The  holy  bodies  of  holy  martyrs  and  of 
others  now  living  with  Christ,  which  bodies  were 
living  members  of  Christ,  and  the  temples  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  which  by  Him  are  to  be  raised 
to  eternal  life,  and  to  be  glorified,  are  to  be  vene¬ 
rated  by  the  faithful,  through  which  bodies  many 
benefits  are  bestowed  by  God  on  men. 

“  Moreover  that  the  images  of  Christ,  of  the 
Virgin  Mother  of  God,  and  of  the  other  saints,  are 
to  be  had  and  retained  particularly  in  temples,  and 


348 


CATHOLICITY. 


tliat  due  honor  and  veneration  are  to  be  given  to 
them  ;  not  that  any  divinity  or  virtue  is  believed  to 
be  in  them  on  account  of  which  they  are  to  he  wor¬ 
shipped,  or  that  any  thing  is  to  he  asked  of  them, 
or  that  trust  is  to  be  reposed  in  images  as  was  of 
old  hy  the  Gentiles  who  placed  their  hope  in 
idols  ;  hut  because  the  honor  which  is  shown  them 
is  referred  to  the  prototypes  which  these  images 
represent  ;  in  such  wise  that  hy  the  images  we 
kiss,  and  before  which  we  uncover  the  head  and 
prostrate  ourselves,  we  adore  Christ,  and  we  ven¬ 
erate  the  saints  whose  similitude  they  hear,  as  hy 
the  decrees  of  Councils,  and  especially  of  the 
Second  Synod  of  Nicasa,  has  been  defined  against 
the  opponents  of  images. 

And  the  Bishops  shall  carefully  teach  this, 
that  hy  means  of  the  histories  of  the  mysteries  of 
our  Kedemption  portrayed  hy  paintings  and  other 
representations,  the  people  are  instructed  and  con¬ 
firmed  in  the  habit  of  remembering  and  continual¬ 
ly  revolving  in  mind  the  articles  of  faith  ;  as  also 
great  profit  is  derived  from  all  sacred  images,  not 
only  because  the  people  are  thereby  admonished 
of  the  benefit  and  gifts  bestowed  upon  them  by 
Christ,  but  also  the  miracles  which  God  has  per¬ 
formed  by  means  of  the  saints  and  their  salutary 
examples,  are  set  before  the  eyes  of  the  faithfulr 


MEMORIALS 


349 


SO  that  they  may  give  God  thanks  for  those  things, 
may  order  their  own  lives  and  manners  in  imita¬ 
tion  of  the  saints,  and  may  he  excited  to  adore 
and  love  God,  and  to  cultivate  piety. 

And  if  any  abuses  have  crept  in  amongst 
these  holy  and  salutary  observances,  the  holy 
Synod  ardently  desires  that  they  may  be  utterly 
abolished.^’  * 

It  would  be  difficult  indeed  to  go  astray  with 
this  clear  definition.  It  says  to  man,  you  rendei 
homage  to  the  wisdom  of  your  statesmen,  the 
bravery  of  your  generals,  and  to  all  benefactors  of 
humanity.  You  respect  their  tombs,  you  inaugu¬ 
rate  their  statues,  and  erect  magnificent  monu¬ 
ments  to  their  glory  ;  and  in  this  you  but  follow 
the  natural  impulses  given  to  the  heart  by  its 
divine  Creator.  Be  not  so  unjust  to  His  religion 
as  to  cast  aside  or  smother  any  of  your  natural 
emotions  upon  entering  the  Temples  dedicated 
solely  to  His  worship.  Nowhere  has  He  cast  out 
nature  from  His  Temples.  Bear  then  into  His 
divine  presence  the  noblest  of  His  works,  your  own 
free  hearts  and  souls,  with  all  your  manhood  ; 
but  let  it  act  in  a  divine  order  by  honoring  the 
eacred  memorials  of  your  Saviour,  His  saints  and 
martyrs,  and  the  glorious  heroes  of  Christian  faith 


♦  8«S8.  XXV. 


350 


CATHOLICITY. 


You  look  at  the  statue  of  your  country's 
liberator  with  proud  hearts  and  loving  reverence  ; 
what  then  should  you  feel  with  a  crucifix  before 
you,  the  image  of  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  your  im¬ 
mortal  soul  ?  Ah  !  such  grateful  love  and  sorrow 
as  words  cannot  express,  and  a  heavenly  spirit  of 
emulation  may  excite  you  to  bear  with  patient 
suffering  that  cross  which  presses  with  more  or  less 
weight  upon  every  human  heart.  See  the  repre¬ 
sentations  of  the  wonderful  agonies  of  His  mar¬ 
tyrs — behold  the  glorious  virtues  of  His  saints  ; — 
when  you  visit  their  shrines,  see  their  pictures,  or 
venerate  their  relics,  exalt  your  sentiments  to  their 
highest  level  of  existence  !  Be  ennobled  and 
hallowed  in  their  presence,  made  humbler  and 
better  ;  for  when  men  are  not,  it  is  because  they 
have  been  taught  to  stifle  their  innocent  impulses, 
or  to  regard  them  with  distrust  as  profane  and 
superstitious.  Notwithstanding  these  false  teach¬ 
ings,  a  better  nature  will  at  times  find  expression 
A  Protestant  writer  says  : — 

“  Have  not  Dying  Christs  taught  fortitude  to 
the  virtuous  sufferer  ?  Have  not  Holy  Families 
cherished  and  ennobled  domestic  affections  ?  The 
tender  genius  of  Christian  morality,  even  in  its 
most  degenerate  state,  has  made  the  Mother  and 
the  Child  the  highest  objects  of  affectionate  super* 


MEMORIALS. 


351 


Btition.  How  much  has  that  beautiful  superstition, 
by  the  pencils  of  great  artists,  contributed  to  hu¬ 
manize  mankind  ?  * 

It  is  surprising  that  “  superstition  should 
produce  so  beneficent  results  ;  but  this  word  came 
not  from  the  writer’s  heart ;  it  was  the  expression 
of  his  heartless  creed  imposed  on  him. 

Another  writer  says  that  pictures  tell  us  on 
the  walls  the  stories  of  sacred  history  for  the 
benefit  of  the  pious  unlearned,  who  could  not  read 
these  only  when  thus  narrated  in  this  universal 
language.”  f 

Our  New-Yorker  would  limit  the  religious  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  productions  of  genius  to  the  pious 
unlearned  ;  he  might  also  include  the  refined  and 
cultivated,  as  we  find  their  dwellings  often  pro¬ 
fusely  adorned  with  works  of  art.  Surely  their- 
faculties  and  tastes  have  not  become  so  refined 
that  it  is  beyond  the  powers  of  genius  to  raise 
them  still  higher  in  their  religious  aspirations,  no 
less  than  in  their  natural  conceptions,  at  least  in 
some  moments. 

Is  not  Dr.  Durbin  a  learned  man  ?  Now 
listen  to  his  experience  : — 

The  Crucifixion,  by  Vandyke,  struck  me 
most  forcibly ;  I  could  not  repress  indignation, 


Sir  James  Mackintosh. 


t  Borne,  as  seen  by  a  New  Yorker. 


352 


CATHOLICITY. 


sorrow,  even  tears,  as  I  gazed  upon  the  image  of 
the  crucified  stooping  meekly  and  yielding  his 
bleeding  hack  to  the  strokes  of  the  scourge,  while 
the  blue  marks  of  the  thong-scourged  verged  into 
blackness,  and  the  dark  blood  trickled  from  the 
fearful  wounds/’  And  on  Holbein's  painting  of 
the  Passion  of  Christ,  he  says  :  I  never  was  so 
affected  by  a  picture,  and,  for  the  first  time,  felt 
that  my  religious  feelings  were  improved  by  gazing 
at  one/’  f 

We  have  taken  the  testimony  of  a  Methodist 
minister  and  Doctor  of  Divinity  ;  let  us  add  that 
of  the  distinguished  and  eloquent  Unitarian,  Dr. 
C banning  : — 

“  When  I  cast  my  eyes  on  the  pictures  on 
the  walls,  which  placed  before  me  the  holy  men 
of  departed  ages,  now  absorbed  in  devotion  and 
lost  in  rapture,  now  enduring  with  meek  courage 
and  celestial  hope  the  agonies  of  a  painful  death 
in  defence  of  the  truth,  I  was  touched,  I  hope 
made  better  ....  These  sainted  dead  spoke  to  my 
heart,  and  I  was  sometimes  led  to  feel  as  if  an 
hour  on  Sunday  spent  in  this  communion  were  as 
useful  to  me  as  if  it  had  been  spent  in  a  Protes¬ 
tant  Church  .  .  .  They  were  to  me  living,  venerable 
witnesses  to  Christ,  to  the  power  of  religion,  to  the 


*  Obserrations  in  Europe,  p.  249. 


t  p.  276. 


MEMORIALS. 


353 


grandeur  of  the  human  soul.  I  saw  what  men 
might  suffer  for  the  Truth,  how  they  could  rise 
above  themselves,  how  real  might  become  the 
ideas  of  God  and  a  higher  life!  This  inward 
reverence  for  the  departed  good  helped  me  to  feel 
myself  as  a  member  of  the  Church  universal  .... 
My  own  heart  was  a  witness  to  a  spiritual  fellow¬ 
ship.  Is  it  not  to  be  desired  that  all  our  Churches 
should  have  services  to  teach  us  our  union  with 
Christ's  body  ?  Would  not  this  break  our  secta¬ 
rian  chains,  and  awaken  a  reverence  for  Christ's 
spirit,  for  true  goodness,  under  every  name  and 
form  ?  It  is  not  enough  to  feel  that  we  are  mem¬ 
bers  of  this  or  that  narrow  communion  ;  Christi¬ 
anity  is  universal  sympathy." 

Thus,  when  men  cast  off  the  prejudice  of  a 
mistaken  education  and  the  fetters  of  an  erroneous 
creed,  their  truer  nature  shines  forth  in  expression 
of  Catholic  doctrines.  They  begin  by  admiring 
the  beauty  of  her  worship,  and  end  by  yearning 
after  her  communion. 

Yet  there  are  many  who  resist  this  and  tell  us 
that  these  things  are  contrary  to  Christianity  ; — 
that  Christianity  is  a  purely  spiritual  worship. 
The  Keformation  was  an  attempt  to  cleanse  it 
from  superstition,  with  a  return  to  its  primitive 
simplicity. 

*  visit  to  Europe.  Works  voL  v.  p.  207. 


354 


CATHOLICITY. 


There  is  a  sense  in  which  it  may  be  said  in 
truth,  that  Christianity  is  a  spiritual  religion,  but 
the  sense  in  which  this  idea  is  usually  presented, 
and  generally  received,  is  most  perniciously  false 
It  involves  the  overthrow  of  every  distinct  doctrine 
of  Christianity. 

Its  great  mystery  is  the  Incarnation.  This  is 
the  fountain  source  of  aU  its  mysteries,  the  centre 
from  which  radiates  all  its  doctrines,  and  the  basis 
of  all  its  worship.  What,  now,  was  the  Incarnation  ? 
No  less  than  the  second  person  of  the  Godhead 
becoming  man, — the  invisible  Deity  becoming 
visible  by  taking  the  nature  and  form  of  a  rational 
creature, — the  Word  made  Flesh  and  dwelling 
amongst  us.  But  our  purely  spiritual  worshipper 
informs  us  that  he  needs  no  material  aids ;  he 
communicates  with  the  invisible  Deity  face  to 
face,  and  worships  therefore  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

Away  then  with  the  idea  of  the  Deity  becoming 
visible !  The  Incarnation,  God  made  Flesh  ! 
This  is  a  doctrine  suited  only  to  a  sensual  and 
uncultivated  people,  whose  minds  are  too  gross 
and  carnal  to  receive  a  pure  spiritual  Keligion  ! 

We  read  of  the  same  person  being  baptized 
with  water,  blessing  children,  uttering  aloud  vocal 
prayers,  washing  his  disciples"  feet,  blessing  sol¬ 
emnly  bread  and  wine,  chanting  psalms  ;  he  does 
all  this  and  many  otlier  acts  of  outward  worship. 


MEMORIALS. 


355 


But  our  votary  of  an  exclusively  spiritual 
Christianity  and  worship,  would  have  us  worship 
interiorly,  in  spirit.  Well  then,  away  with  these 
Jewish  notions  of  outward  worship,  sacraments, 
and  such  like  forms.  We  must  free  Christianity 
from  the  prejudices,  of  Judaism.  God  is  a  spirit, 
and  those  who  would  worship  Him  must  come  to 
him  in  spirit. 

The  tremendous  drama  of  his  Passion  begins. 
He  is  apprehended  with  a  kiss,  bound  with  cords, 
and  brought  before  the  Koman  Governor,  sent  to 
Herod  with  a  white  garment,  the  dress  of  fools, 
and  spit  upon  ;  condemned  by  Pilate  to  be  pub¬ 
licly  scourged,  a  crown  of  thorns  is  placed  upon 
his  head,  a  tattered  purple  garment  is  thrown 
around  his  shoulders,  a  reed  is  placed  in  his  hands. 
In  this  heart-sickening  condition  he  is  exhibited 
to  a  populace,  who  cry  out.  Crucify  him  ! 

Now  he  is  condemned  to  death,  and  carries  a 
heavy  cross  upon  his  lacerated  shoulder  ;  he  walks 
publicly  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  while 
the  mob  deride,  and  the  compassionate  weep  ; 
weak  with  the  loss  of  blood,  more  than  once  he 
falls  under  the  weight  of  the  Cross  ;  arrived  at 
Calvary,  he  is  stripped  of  his  garments,  his  wounds 
were  revealed,  his  bones  might  be  counted  ! 

Naked  he  is  fastened  to  the  Cross  ;  the  iron 


356 


CATHOLICITY. 


nails  pierce  first  his  right  and  then  his  left  hand  ; 
his  feet  alike  are  pierced  ;  the  Cross  is  raised  that 
the  assembled  world  may  gaze  upon  this  spectacle 
of  exquisite  agony  ;  he  speaks  and  prays  aloud, 
and,  crying  out  it  is  finished,  he  gives  up  the 
ghost ;  a  soldier  approaches,  and  stabs  him  with  a 
lance  through  the  heart  ! 

What  now  will  our  spiritual  Christian  wor¬ 
shipper  say  to  all  this  public  display  of  physical 
torture  ?  Christianity  is  of  course  a  spiritual 
Religion,  and  does  not  address  the  senses  !  Christ 
might  have  redeemed  the  world  with  a  prayer  in 
solitude  to  his  heavenly  Father  ;  a  tear,  a  sigh 
would  have  sufficed.  No  believer  in  his  divinity 
dares  deny  this.  Why,  stickler  for  a  spiritual  wor- 
worship,  why  this  display  before  the  world,  of  suf¬ 
fering,  of  a  cruel  crucifixion,  and  a  most  fearful 
tragedy  ?  Be  consistent  ;  tell  us  that  Christ 
misunderstood  his  mission  ;  he  appealed  to  the 
senses,  to  vulgar  and  uncultivated  minds  ;  he  was 
affected  by  Jewish  notions,  and  ifc  was  left  for  you 
to  give  to  the  world  a  Christianity  pure,  perfect, 
spiritual  !  Fall  down  before  you  cry  out  all  hail, 
the  true  Messiah  has  come  ! 

In  this  way,  with  the  idea  of  a  reformed  spirit¬ 
ual  worship,  we  have  a  Christianity  without  Christ, 
and  a  Religion  destitute  of  all  worship. 


MEMORIALS. 


357 


But  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Author  of  Human 
Nature,  understood  better  the  laws  and  economy 
of  life.  All  the  great  truths  He  undertook  to 
teach  mankind,  he  made  visible  and  palpable. 

The  idea  of  God  was  almost  obliterated  frori 
the  minds  of  men,  and  God  is  made  flesh  ;  the 
sentiment  of  love  anvl  human  brotherhood  was 
nearly  extinguished  in  men's  hearts,  and  God  so 
loves  them  as  to  die  the  most  painful  of  deaths, 
the  death  of  the  Cross  ;  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  was  doubted  by  many,  and  Jesus  Christ  rises 
triumphantly  from  the  grave,  and  in  the  presence 
of  hundreds  ascends  visibly  up  to  Heaven.  It  was 
thus  palpably  that  our  Kedeemer  taught  the  great 
truths  of  His  Religion. 

The  Church,  guided  by  His  Spirit,  continues 
so  to  teach  the  world  by  outward  rites,  ceremonies, 
signs,  pictures,  and  by  embodying  divine  truths  in 
such  forms  as  to  be  immediately  recognized  and 
understood  by  every  degree  of  capacity  and  by  all 
classes  of  men. 


/ 


XXXVL 


CflntiMsiiffn. 


“The  world  is  awakening  to  the  idea  of  union.” — Embbsok. 

The  aspirations  of  Keason  so  eminently  dis¬ 
tinguish  man  in  his  superiority  to  the  animal 
creation,  that  loyalty  to  these  constitutes  the  high¬ 
est  nobility  and  dignity  of  his  nature. 

Philosophy  for  long  centuries  has  vainly  en¬ 
deavored  to  solve  the  riddle  of  man’s  destiny,  and 
answer  his  aspirations.  Man  is  constrained  to 
look  elsewhere  for  adequate  answers.  This  is  a 
dictate  of  Keason,  no  less  than  a  cry  from  the 
conscience  of  the  whole  human  race. 

Christianity  is  the  only  Religion  that  can  rea- 
Bonably  claim  the  attention  of  all  mAnkind.  There 
iS'  no  rational  hope,  not  the  faintest  prospect  of  any 
other  satisfactory  Religion.  Either  we  must  be- 


CONCLUSION. 


859 


come  Christians,  or  abandon  our  religious  natures 
to  the  agonizing  alternatives  of  doubt,  despair  ;  a 
condition  which  terminates  in  the  death  of  the 
souL 

The  Protestant  form  of  Christianity  in  its 
exposition  of  Christian  Doctrines  contradicts  the 
dictates  of  Keason,  shocks  the  convictions  of  con¬ 
science,  and  is  subversive  of  all  human  dignity 
The  more  intelligent  and  conscientious  of  its  ad¬ 
herents  have  awakened  to  this  recognition,  and 
hence  the  Protestant  Religion  has  ceased  to  possess 
a  real  hold  upon  their  convictions,  or  to  retain 
their  respect. 

Skepticism,  infidelity,  atheism,  can  never  satisfy 
our  religious  nature,  for  they  are  the  denial  of  its 
convictions,  U nitarianism,  deism,  pantheism,  under 
the  light  and  quickening  infiuences  of  Christianity, 
are,  beyond  all  measure,  inadequate  to  our  deep 
religious  necessities. 

The  only  road  open  for  us  to  he  Christians, 
consistent  with  Reason,  with  moral  rectitude,  and 
with  a  proper  respect  for  ourselves,  is  to  become 
Catholic.  For  the  expositions  of  Christian  Doc¬ 
trines  by  the  Catholic  Church  are  consonant  with 
the  dictates  of  Reason,  in  harmony  with  our  moral 
feelings,  and  favorable  to  the  highest  conceptions 
of  the  dignity  of  human  nature. 


CATHOLICITY, 


Nations  unaided  by  tbe  powerful  influence!?  of 
Religion  cannot  realize  their  destinies.  Our  own 
country  is  becoming  conscious  of  this  truth.  The 
question  now  pressing  itself  upon  the  American 
people  iS;  to  determine  their  Religion,  as  our  fathers 
did  the  character  of  their  political  institutions. 
These,  under  the  guidance  of  an  overruling  Provi¬ 
dence,  were  based  on  Catholic  principles,  and 
Catholic  views  of  human  nature. 

With  the  free  exertion  of  Reason,  with  the 
natural  impulses  of  our  instincts,  and  with  the 
silent  influences  of  our  noble  institutions,  the 
American  people  will  rise  in  the  strength  of  its 
manhood  and  proclaim  itself  Catholic. 

Brothers  of  America  !  you  who  look  for  a  Re¬ 
ligion  agreeing  with  your  intelligence,  commensu¬ 
rate  with  all  the  wants  of  your  nature,  and  which 
presents  a  destiny  worthy  of  your  highest  efforts, 
investigate  the  claims  of  the  Catholic  Religion,  and 
exercise  your  freedom  by  paying  a  loyal  homage  to 
its  Divine  T  uth. 


THl  IND. 


CATALOQUE 

OF  THE 

publicattone 

OF  THE 

CRTHOIilC  6001^  EXCHAflGE, 

120  West  6oth  Street,  New  York. 


Thk  Cathowc  Book  Exchanger  is  a  Mis¬ 
sionary  Institution,  organized  and  controlled 
by  the  Paulist  Fathers,  for  the  dissemination 
of  Catholic  literature.  Its  object  is  to  dis¬ 
tribute  as  wide-spread  as  possible  Books,  Pam¬ 
phlets,  and  Leaflets  at  a  cost  which  provides 
simply  for  current  expenses.  We  have  no  in¬ 
terest  on  investment,  no  expensive  rental,  or 
no  salaries  for  high-priced  officials  to  pay. 
Our  purpose  is  to  further  the  Apostolate  of  the 
Press  by  the  sale  of  printed  truth  and  to  put 
the  price  of  Catholic  books  within  reach  of 
all. 

The  prices  quoted  in  this  Catalogue  are  the 
figures  at  which  the  book  sells  at  retail. 

To  the  Trade  and  any  one  buying  in  quanti¬ 
ties  large  discounts  are  offered. 

Special  discounts  on  orders  accompanied  by 

CASH. 

We  prefer  to  do  a  Cash  business. 


THE  APOSTOLATE  OF  THE  PRESS. 

The  American  people  are  a  reading  people  and  a  thinking 
people.  Not  always  and  uniformly  deep  in  their  reading  and 
thinking,  to  be  sure  ;  but  still  it  would  be  folly  to  ignore  in  them 
a  certain  predisposition  to  devour  printed  matter  and  to  discuss 
problems  social,  political,  and  religious.  Therefore  we  must  not 
neglect  to  put  before  them,  in  the  form  to  which  they  take  so 
kindly,  the  reasons  why  they  ought  to  be  Catholics.  Much  has 
been  said — you  remember  how  strongly  Father  Hecker  urged  it — 
about  the  Apostolate  of  the  Press,  and  much  more  ought  to  be 
said  and  done  to  develop  and  apply  the  principles  which  will  be 
plain  to  any  one  Avho  thinks  a  moment. 

First  Need  is  to  Manufacture  the  Bullets. 

There  must  first  be  a  supply  of  the  right  sort  of  literature — 
an  abundant  supply,  at  the  lowest  possible  price.  Every  means 
must  be  adopted  for  getting  this  literature  into  circulation,  so  that 
it  will  be  easy  for  any  one  to  secure,  for  the  benefit  of  an  interested 
non-Catholic  friend,  a  full  and  sufficient  explanation  of  any  par¬ 
ticular  point  in  question.  In  a  word,  the  country  should  be  flood¬ 
ed  with  Catholic  literature,  so  that  it  will  be  difficult  for  any  one 
to  escape  it  altogether.  But  this  point  need  not  be  dwelt  on. 
We  know  what  a  good  work  is  being  accomplished  along  this  line 
by  The  Catholic  Book  Exchange  (120  West  60th  Street,  New 
York)  and  other  agencies  of  a  similar  nature  in  other  parts  of  the 
country.  Moreover  it  is,  although  the  first,  not  the  greatest  need. 
It  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  this  supply  of  ammunition;  it 
is  still  more  necessary  that  there  should  be  soldiers  to  use  it. 

Second  Need  is  to  get  Bvery  One  to  Fire  Them. 

What  is  mainly  needed  is  the  active  co-operation  of  the  large 
body  of  intelligent  Catholics  in  utilizing  the  literature  which  is¬ 
sues  from  the  press.  Non-Catholics  may  occasionally  stray  into 
one  of  our  bookstores  ;  curiosity  may  prompt  them  to  open  a  book 
or  two.  But  we  cannot  expect  that  many  of  them  will  voluntarily 
avail  themselves  of  these  means.  Why  should  they  do  so  ?  or 
why  should  they  go  out  of  their  way  and  spend  money  for  what 
is  distasteful  to  them  ?  The  fact  is,  we  must  be  the  active  agents 
in  bringing  the  truth  to  their  notice.  How  ?  Certainly  not  by 
any  importunity  which  will  be  bothersome  or  discourteous.  That 
will  only  disgust  and  repel.  But  there  are  opportunities  and 
occasions  when  a  word  of  explanation,  followed  up  by  the  loan  or 
gift  of  a  tract  or  book  suited  in  its  tone  and  topic  to  the  person 
with  whom  we  are  dealing,  will  do  wonders.  Sometimes  hearts 
are  tender  and  minds  are  open  to  the  truth.  Then  they  welcome 
the  definite  authoritative  teaching  of  Holy  Church.  If,  then,  we 
are  prepared,  both  by  sympathy  and  by  knowledge,  what  may  we 
not  do  for  Christ’s  Kingdom  and  the  souls  of  our  fellow-men  ? 
This  requires  zeal,  but  it  also  requires  tact — if  we  may  say  it, 
Divine  tact. 

The  Catholic  Book  F^change 
has  been  established  and  is  conducted  on  these  principles.  Here¬ 
with  is  a  catalogue  of  its  publications.  A  little  money  spent  judi¬ 
ciously  in  this  way  is  casting  your  bread  on  the  running  waters. 


ASPIRATIONS  OF  NATURE. 

By  Very  Rev.  I.  T.  Hecker. 

360  pages,  paper,  20  cents. 

Father  Hecker  in  his  original  way  argues  himself  in  this 
work,  from  a  basis  which  supposes  the  religious  instinct,  into  the 
Catholic  Church,  where  this  instinct  receives  its  fullest  develop¬ 
ment.  It  is  a  most  valuable  book  to  an  intelligent  man  who  has 
drifted  away  from  all  organized  religion. 


ANDIATOROCTE ; 

or.  The  Eve  of  Lady  Day  on  Lake  George  ;  and  other 
Poems,  Hyinns,  and  Meditations  in  Verse, 

By  Rev.  Father  Walworth,  of  Albany,  N.  Y. 

240  pages,  cloth,  gilt  edges,  $1. 

Father  Walworth  has  written  poetry  of  very  high  merit. 
•This  collection  of  his  life  poems  includes  his  best  creations. 
Many  are  racy  of  the  soil,  some  bespeak  the  poetry  of  Indian 
legend,  still  others  are  born  of  a  deep  religious  nature. 


CHURCH  AND  THE  AGE. 

An  Exposition  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  view  of 
the  Needs  and  Aspirations  of  the  present  Age, 

By  Very  Rev.  I.  T.  Hecker. 

322  pages,  cloth,  $l. 

An  epoch-making  book.  One  cannot  well  understand  the 
signs  of  the  times  and  the  outcome  of  the  new  dispensation  with¬ 
out  getting  Father  Hecker's  views.  It  is  a  book  to  be  read  and 
re-read,  talked  over,  and  then  read  again.  The  relations  of  in¬ 
telligence  and  liberty  to  the  religious  life  of  the  Church  are  here 
fully  discussed. 

HISTORY  OF  MY  RELIGIOUS  OPINION. 

Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua. 

By  John  Henry  Cardinal  Newman. 

394  pages,  cloth,  $l. 

^This  is  the  well-known  masterpiece  of  polemical  literature  in 
which  he  answers  in  a  crushing  way  the  charges  of  Rev.  Charles 
Kingsley.  He  gives  in  it  an  autobiography  of  his  religious  life. 


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THE  POPE:  HOW  FAR  DOES  HE 
CONTROL  CONSCIENCE? 

How  far  does  he  interfere  with  Citizenship? 

.  By  John  Henry  Cardinal  Newman. 

200  pages,  paper,  20  cents. 

This  book  fully  instructs  one  about  the  relations  of  Catho¬ 
licity  to  civil  government,  how  far  loyalty  to  the  Pope  can  make 
one  disloyal  to  the  State.  In  fact  all  obligations  arising  from 
one’s  duty  as  a  man,  as  a  citizen,  as  a  Catholic.  The  chapter  on 
Conscience  is  alone  worth  a  dozen  ordinary  books,  so  luminous 
is  the  statement  of  the  inner  liberty  of  Catholics.  The  book  is  es¬ 
pecially  adapted  to  lawyers,  editors,  teachers,  ministers,  and  poli¬ 
ticians.  It  will  place  Catholics  right  on  the  burning  question  of 
love  of  country.  _ 

FROM  THE  HIGHWAYS  OF  LIFE. 

A  series  of  brief  but  complete  Narratives  of  Conver¬ 
sions  to  the  true  Faith,  written  in  each  case  by 
the  Convert. 

128  pages,  cloth,  25  cents  ;  paper,  lo  cents. 

These  are  object-lessons  of  how  the  grace  of  God  leads  men 
and  women  to  Catholicity.  They  are  stories  of  honest  inquiry, 
courageous  struggle,  and  great  sacrifice,  taken  from  life.  The 
charm  of  personal  narrative  makes  these  sketches  stranger  than 
fiction  and  far  more  interesting. 

GUIDE  FOR  CATHOLIC  YOUNG  WOMEN, 

especially  for  those  who  earn  their  own  living. 

By  Rev.  George  Deshon,  Paulist. 

35th  edition.  308  pages,  cloth,  75  cents. 

The  peculiar  charm  of  this  book  is  its  simple  and  straightfor¬ 
ward  earnestness.  A  working-girl’s  whole  life  is  gone  over,  and 
the  guidance  given  is  of  a  most  practical  kind  and  in  a  most  sym¬ 
pathetic  spirit.  It  is  the  work  of  one  thoroughly  familiar  with 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  needs  of  the  young  working-women  of 
America.  Full  of  common  sense  and  deeply  religious.  The  best 
recommendation  the  book  can  get  is  the  demand  every  year  for 
two  or  three  new  editions.  It  is  particularly  useful  for  distribu¬ 
tion  in  Sodalities. 


The  Cathetic  Book  Exchange,  120  West  GOtii  St.,  New  York. 


LIFE  OF  FATHER  HECKER, 

Founder  of  the  Paulists. 

By  Rev.  Walter  Elliott.  Introduction  by  Most  Rev. 

John  Ireland,  D.D. 

444  pages,  cloth,  $l. 

A  full-sized  literary  portrait  of  a  great  leader  of  men.  Father 
Hecker  was  the  prophet  of  the  new  dispensation,  which  is  so  hap¬ 
pily  advocated  by  Leo  XIII.,  of  bringing  the  Church  into  harmony 
with  the  legitimate  aspirations  of  the  age.  The  book  expresses 
in  his  own  words  his  hopes  for  the  conversion  of  America.  It  is 
the  life-story  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  ecclesiastics  in  the 
American  Church. 

THE  OXFORD  MOVEMENT  IN 
AMERICA; 

or,  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

By  Rev.  Clarence  A.  Walworth, 

Author  of Gentle  Skeptic f  Andiatoroctef  etc. 

175  pages,  cloth,  $l. 

A  most  intensely  interesting  personal  narrative  of  the  rise  of 
latter-day  Episcopalianism.  Father  Walworth  was  a  student  at 
the  General  Theological  Seminary  when  the  Oxford  Movement 
was  in  full  swing.  Many  names  well  known  to-day  were  in  the 
list  also.  The  part  these  actors  took  in  the  play  is  related  by  one 
who  was  on  the  stage,  and  knew  them  all  thoroughly,  In  a 
simple  yet  kmdly  way  he  tells  many  tales  out  of  school. 


FIVE  MINUTE  SERMONS. 

Volume  I.  New  Series. 

By  the  Paulists. 

516  pages,  cloth,  $i  each. 

This  vo-ume  contains  the  Gospel  and  Epistle  for  each  Sun¬ 
day  of  the  year  and  three  well-selected,  practical,  and  pointed 
Sermonettes  for  the  Low  Masses.  The  advantage  of  this  collec¬ 
tion  is  that  the  sermons  are  by  practical  preachers,  have  been 
actually  preached,  and  after  careful  revision  are  now  offered  to  the 
Clergy.  This  is  an  entirely  new  volume,  the  sermons  have 
never  been  published  before  in  book-form.  It  makes  an  excellent 
manual  for  use  on  the  altar. 

Volumes  I.  and  II.,  old  series,  can  be  supplied  at  $i  each. 


Tho  Catholic  Book  Exchange,  120  West  60th  St.,  New  York. 


CATHOLIC  AND  PROTESTANT  COUN¬ 
TRIES  COMPARED 

in  Civilization,  Popular  Happiness,  General  Intelli¬ 
gence,  a?id  Morality. 

By  Alfred  Youngs  Paulist. 

636  pages,  clotli,  $1. 

A  common  argument  against  the  Divinity  of  the  Church  is  • 
see  its  demoralizing  influence  on  the  civilization  of  Catholic 
countries.  Father  Young  covers  the  whole  field  of  social  ques¬ 
tions  and  completely  answers  all  such  charges.  The  New  York 
Sun  says  ;  “  Considering  the  scope  of  Father  Young’s  book  and 
the  extraordinary  amount  of  research  required  by  it,  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  pronounce  it  the  strongest  piece  of  controversial  lit¬ 
erature  upon  the  Catholic  side  that  has  been  put  forth  in  recent 
times.” 

CATHOLIC  BELIEF. 

A  Short  and  Simple  Exposition  of  Catholic  Doctrine. 

By  Rev.  J.  Faa  Di  Bruno. 

433  psges,  paper,  20  cents. 

The  best-known  compendium  of  the  teachings  of  the  Church. 
A  book  for  the  million.  Bishops  need  it  for  missionary  work 
among  non-Catholics.  Priests  need  it  in  instructing  Converts. 
People  need  it  as  a  handy  manual  of  Christian  Doctrine.  Dis¬ 
count  for  large  quantities. 

DIVINE  ARMORY  OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE. 

By  Rev.  Kenelm  Vaughan  ;  with  a  preface  by 
Cardinal  Gibbons. 

In  leather,  five  books  in  one  volume. 

1,028  pages,  $2. 

It  is  the  Holy  Scriptures  arranged  for  devotional  as  well  as 
preaching  purposes,  for  the  intelligent  laity  as  well  as  for  priests. 
It  classifies  the  text  of  Scripture  under  appropriate  headings, 
making  an  admirably  digested  Concordance.  We  have  nothing 
like  it  in  a  Catholic  English  dress.  It  will  serve  nicely  as  a  hand¬ 
book  in  the  revival  of  Scripture  Studies,  and  is  coming  largely  in¬ 
to  vogue  among  intelligent  lay  people  as  a  Prayer-Book  of  un¬ 
usual  value,  since  it  enables  one  to  pray  in  the  words  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 


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PLAIN  FACTS  FOR  FAIR  MINDS. 

An  Appeal  to  Candor  and  Common  Sense. 

By  Rev.  George  M.  Searle,  Paulist, 

Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  at  Catholic  University 
of  America^  Washington^  D.  C. 

360  pages,  cloth,  50  cents. 

Father  Searle  is  a  convert  who  knows  the  American  mind 
well,  and  in  this  hand-book  presents  the  truth  in  so  taking  a  way 
that  non-Catholics  are  charmed  with  its  simple  directness.  It  has 
also  a  double  advantage  of  being  prepared  as  an  answer  to  the 
numerous  queries  coming  through  the  “Question  Box”  on  Father 
Elliott’s  Missions  for  Non-Catholics.  There  is  no  better  book  to 
give  away  in  quantities  or  to  use  for  the  instruction  of  converts. 


A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION 

from  the  Creation  of  the  World  to  the  present  time ; 
to  which  is  added  an  Historical  Sketch  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States, 

46  pages,  paper,  lO  cents. 

The  study  of  history  is  the  beaten  track  leading  from  reli¬ 
gious  error  to  Catholic  truth.  The  first  part  of  this  little  work 
shows  the  unity  and  consistency  of  God’s  dealings  with  men.  The 
second  part,  from  the  pen  of  Father  Hecker,  is  an  invincible  argu¬ 
ment  for  Catholic  truth  drawn  from  its  relation  to  our  popular 
institutions.  It  is  valuable  as  a  text-book  in  Sunday-schools. 


THE  INQUIRER’S  CATECHISM. 

Lead,  Kindly  Light,  Adapted  from  the  Catechis^n 
of  Rev.  F.  X.  Reichart :  published  with  the 
approval  of  the  Bishop  of  Salford,  England. 

48  pages,  paper,  5  cents. 

A  short,  handy,  concise,  and  cheap  manual  to  give  to  those 
who  are  inquiring  about  the  Church.  A  supply  at  hand  in  the 
church  office  or  confessional  will  satisfy  the  demand,  and  may  lead 
many  who  come  timidly  to  ask,  into  the  right  way. 


The  Catholic  Book  Exchange,  120  West  60th  St.,  New  Tork. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  ST.  JOHN  THE 
APOSTLE 

to  the  Churches  of  Asia  and  the  World. 

By  Angnstino  Francis  Hewit,  D.D., 

of  the  Congregation  of  St.  Paul. 

This  is  a  new  translation  of  the  writings  of  St.  John  the 
Apostle  by  one  of  the  ablest  scholars  of  the  day  in  America,  and 
it  offers  a  specimen  of  an  improved  English  version  of  the  sacred 
canonical  Scriptures.  The  Catholic  Hierarchy  of  this  day  clasps 
the  hand  of  St.  John,  on  whose  head  rested  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  From  this  fact,  for  the  present  needs  of  religious 
truth,  the  writings  of  St.  John  acquire  much  of  their  importance. 
Hence  this  new  translation  of  them. 


LIFE  OF  FATHER  HECKER. 

By  Dr.  William  Barry. 

75  pages,  paper,  lO  cents. 

It  is  a  good  summary  of  the  larger  life  of  Father  Heeker  by 
Father  Elliott.  It  originally  appeared  as  a  critique  in  the  Dublin 
Review,  It  is  a  European’s  estimate  of  an  American  and  his  in¬ 
fluence  on  the  American  Church. 


QUESTIONS  OF  THE  SOUL. 

By  Very  Rev.  I.  T.  Heeker,  Paulist. 

294  pages,  paper,  20  cents. 

Much  that  this  book  contains  is  a  narrative  of  Father  Hecker’s 
attempt  to  solve  the  problems  of  life  outside  the  Church  and  his 
failure  to  do  so,  together  with  an  enthusiastic  and  most  attractive 
description  of  how  the  Catholic  Church  revealed  God  to  his  thirst¬ 
ing  soul.  A  well-meaning  man  will  ffnd  herein  the  road  to  union 
with  God.  For  those  who  have  no  positive  religion  this  book  is 
very  valuable. 

MARY,  THE  MOTHER  OF  JESUS. 

By  John  Henry  Cardinal  Newman. 

136  pages,  paper,  20  cents. 

This  is  by  all  odds  the  best  statement  of  Catholic  doctrine  on 
the  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  the  English  language.  It 
was  Newman’s  celebrated  answer  to  Pusey.  It  is  thorough,  com- 
plete,  masterly. 


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SERMONS  BY  THE  PAULISTS. 


Preached  during  186^-66, 

OTHER  VOLUMES  IN  PRESS. 

None  of  these  parish  sermons  is  a  long  one,  but  they  are  all 
practical  and  have  been  preached  to  people  of  every-day  life. 
Their  charm  is  their  directness.  Many  priests  have  found  them 
extremely  useful  in  their  own  pastoral  labors. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  AGE; 

with  Studies  in  St.  Augustine  on  Kindred  Topics. 
By  Very  Rev.  Augustine  F.  Hewit,  D.D. 

440  pages,  cloth,  75  cents. 

This  IS  the  best  statement  in  English  of  some  of  the  funda¬ 
mental  questions  that  lie  on  the  borderland  between  natural  and 
revealed  religions,  of  original  sin  and  the  problem  of  evil,  etc.  For 
one  who  thinks  for  himself  we  know  of  nothing  better  in  English. 

Problems  of  me  Age  in  paper,  287  pages, 
25  cents. 

Studies  in  St.  Augustine  in  paper,  155  pa¬ 
ges,  25  cents.  _ 

THE  KING’S  HIGHWAY ; 

or.  The  Catholic  Church  the  Way  of  Salvation  as 
revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

By  Very  Rev.  A.  F.  Hewit,  D.D. 

292  pages,  cloth,  50  cents ;  paper,  25  cents. 

It  is  the  Catholic  Church  proved  to  be  divine  from  the 
Scriptural  argument.  First-rate  in  dealing  with  old-fashioned 
Protestants. 

LIFE  OF  REV.  FRANCIS  A.  BAKER. 

By  Very  Rev.  A.  F.  Hewit,  D.D. 

205  pages,  cloth,  75  cents. 

Beautiful  character  sketch  of  one  of  the  first  Paulist  Fathers, 
and  a  charming  biography  of  a  convert  and  a  missionary.  It 
contains  a  full  history  of  the  early  beginnings  of  the  Paulists. 


The  Catholic  Book  Exchange,  120  West  60th  St.,  New  Ywk. 


FATHER  YOUNG* S 

CHURCH  MUSIC  PUBLICATIONS 


The  Catholic  Hymnal,  8vo,  boards,  50  cents  per  copy.  In 
lots  of  50  and  more,  30  cents  per  copy.  Contains  238 
hymns,  words  and  mnsic,  appropriate  to  the  festivals  and  sea¬ 
sons  of  the  liturgical  year,  and  for  special  devotions. 

An  Order  of  Divine  Praise  and  Prayer.  57  pages  24mo, 
paper.  A  number  of  prayers  and  hymns,  with  music,  suitable 
fora  congregational  service.  $5  per  hundred.  Specimen  cop¬ 
ies  furnished  ONLY  on  receipt  of  10  cents. 

Carols  for  a  Merry  Christmas.  38  carols,  words  and  music. 

Stiff  cover,  broad  24mo.  25  cents  each. 

Carols  for  a  Joyous  Master.  28  characteristic  Easter  Carols, 
words  and  music.  Stiff  cover,  broad  24mo.  25  cents. 

Carols  for  the  Month  of  May.  6  carols,  words  and  music, 
in  praise  of  Our  Lady.  Stiff  cover,  broad  24mo.  10  cents  each. 

Congregational  Singing.  How  to  establish  it :  What  to  do, 
and  what  not  to  do.  A  brief  practical  treatise.  Paper,  3  pages, 
8vo.  On  receipt  of  10  cents  a  copy  of  this  treatise  and  a 
specimen  copy  of  the  Divine  Praise  and  Prayer  will  be 
sent. 

MASS-BOOK  FOR  NON-CATHOLICS. 

Compiled  by  a  Convert. 

75  pages,  paper,  lO  cents. 

Often  non-Catholics  come  into  the  Church  at  funerals,  great 
festivals,  or  to  hear  a  sermon.  The  Mass  is  an  enigma  to  them. 
This  little  book  is  a  guide  to  the  Mass.  The  idea  is  to  have  a 
supply  of  these  little  books  at  the  door  and  have  the  usher  place 
one  in  the  hands  of  each  non-Catholic. 

MISSION  HYMNS  WITH  MUSIC. 

32  pages,  paper,  5  cents  ;  $3  per  hundred. 

These  hymns  are  arranged  for  use  of  the  people  in  congrega¬ 
tional  singing.  They  have  been  found  to  be  “singable,”  are 
easily  learned,  and  are  good  to  use  during  the  time  of  a  mission. 

MISSION  HYMNS  WITHOUT  MUSIC. 

The  same  as  above.  $I  per  hundred. 


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PATRIOTISM :  ITS  DUTY  AND  VALUE. 
By  Most  Rev.  John  Ireland,  D.D. 
i6  pages,  paper,  5  cents  ;  $3  per  hundred. 

This  is  a  splendid  statement  in  Archbishop  Ireland’s  masterly 
style  of  the  attitude  of  the  American  citizen  to  his  country.  It 
was  originally  delivered  as  an  address  before  the  Loyal  Legion. 
It  is  very  good  for  distribution  in  quantities  to  cultivate  civic 
virtue. 

WHY  I  AM  A  CATHOLIC. 

By  Rev.  Walter  Elliott. 

8  pages,  $I  per  hundred. 


THE  NEW  KNOW-NOTHINGISM. 

A  Reply  to  A.P.A.  Calumnies. 

By  Rev.  R.  M.  Ryan. 

129  pages,  paper,  20  cents. 

A  calm,  well-reasoned,  and  exhaustive  reply  to  the  various 
outrageous  charges  made  against  the  Church  by  the  A.  P.  As. 

MISSIONARY  OUTLOOK  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES. 

By  Rev.  Walter  Elliott. 

16  pages,  $I  per  hundred. 

MANUAL  OF  TOTAL  ABSTINENCE. 

Prepared  by  the  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union  of 

America. 

24  pages,  paper,  $2  per  hundred. 

A  catechism  giving  an  accurate  statement  of  the  fundamental 
principles  that  underlie  the  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Movement. 
Cadet  societies  are  accustomed  to  learn  this  by  heart. 

WHAT  ARE  WE  DOING  FOR  NON-CATHOLICS? 
By  Rev.  Arthur  M.  Clark. 

12  pages,  paper,  $I  per  hundred. 


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Sixty-five  Leaflets. 

4  pp.  tracts,  25  cts.  per  100;  $2.50  per  1,000.  8  pp.,  50  cts.  per 
100;  $5  per  1 ,000.  1 2  pp.,  60  cts.  per  1 00 ;  $6  per  1 ,000. 

RELIGIOUS  INDIFFERENTISM  AND  ITS  REMEDY. 
To  refute  the  objection,  One  religion  is  as  good  as  another.  4  pp. 
25  cts.  per  100;  $2.50  per  1,000. 

THE  PLEA  OF  SINCERITY.  Truth  in  itself  the  object  of 
intellectual  investigation.  4‘pP-  25  cts.  per  100  ;  $2.50  per  1,000. 

THE  NIGHT  BEFORE  THE  FORLORN  HOPE  ;  or, 
Prayer  a  Resource  in  all  Danger.  4  pp.  25  cts.  per  100 ; 
$2.50  per  1,000. 

WHAT  SHALL  I  DO  TO  BE  SAVED  ?  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 
THE  PLEA  OF  UNCERTAINTY.  Truth  for  all  men  is 
one ;  therefore  there  can  be  no  uncertainty.  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

WHAT  MY  UNCLE  SAID  ABOUT  THE  POPE.  Who 
is  to  interpret  the  Bible,  the  fallible  individual  or  the  infallible 
Church  ?  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

HOW  SHALL  WE  FIND  TRUE  CHRISTIANITY? 
The  Church  teaching  with  divine  authority  is  the  rule  of  faith. 
8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

CATHOLIC  TRADITION.  4  pp.  25  cts.  per  100;  $2.50 
per  1,000. 

WHAT  IS  TO  BE  DONE  IN  SUCH  A  CASE  ?  Intem¬ 
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THE  SENATORS  OF  SHERBURN ;  or,  A  Lawyer’s 
Rule  of  Faith.  The  Church  or  the  Bible  ?  8  pp.  $5  per 
1,000. 

THE  REAL  PRESENCE  OF  CHRIST  IN  THE  EU¬ 
CHARIST.  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

A  CONVERSATION  ON  UNION  AMONG  CHRISTIANS. 
The  principle  of  unity  is  submission  to  lawful  constituted  author¬ 
ity.  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

THE  GOSPEL  DOOR  OF  MERCY.  How  sins  are  for¬ 
given.  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

WHAT  SHALL  I  DO  TO  BECOME  A  CHRISTIAN  ? 
Believe  right  and  do  right.  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  CHILDREN.  8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 
A  VOICE  IN  THE  NIGHT ;  or.  Lessons  in  the  Sick- 
Room.  Sickness  a  messenger  of  God  to  convert  the  sinner. 
8  pp.  $5  per  1,000. 

THE  GOSPEL  CHURCH,  (i)  An  authoritatively  teaching 
Church.  (2)  A  sacramental  Church.  (3)  A  sacrificing  Church. 
12  pp.  $6  per  1,000. 

WHO  IS  JESUS  CHRIST  ?  The  divinity  of  our  Lord 
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Why  I  am  a  Total  Abstainer.  Rev.  Walter  Elliott. 
The  Spirit  of  Father  Mathew.  Archbishop  Ireland. 
Let  us  Save  Our  Country.  Rev.  J.  M.  Scanlan. 

Join  the  C.  T.  A.  Movement.  /.  W.  Logue. 

The  Saloon  is  against  the  Church.  Rev.  A.  P.  Doyle. 
The  Church  is  against  the  Saloon. 

Rt.  Rev,  /.  /.  Keane.,  D.D. 

The  Supreme  Court  and  the  Saloon. 


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A  Fashion  of  the  Times. 

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Alter  the  Facts. 

Save  Your  Strength. 

What  Women  Can  Do. 

Convention  Address  of  '93. 

A  New  Remedy  for  an  Old  Evil.  Rev 
A  Woman’s  Point  of  View. 

Important  Temperance  Documents. 


A.  W.  Gutridge. 

Rev.  /.  S.  Tiernan. 
Helen  R.  Grey. 
Rev.  A.  P.  Doyle. 
Archbishop  Ireland. 
Helen  R.  Grey. 
Prof.  C.  H.  Steele. 
Martha  F.  Hyde. 
Rev.  J.  J.  McCoy. 
Wm.  I.  Simmons. 
Lily  A.  Toomy. 

/.  W.  Burgess. 


The  Tippling  Habit. 

Catholics  and  the  Drink  Habit.  Rev.  James  M.  Cleary. 
The  Ounce  of  Prevention. 

Convention  Address  of  ’94.  Rt.  Rev.  /.  B.  Cotter. 


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The  Duty  of  Catholics  in  Temperance  Work. 

Archbishop  j.  re  land. 

Ethics  of  Catholic  Total  Abstinence. 

Rev.  Thomas  Conaty,  D.D. 

Mgr.  Satolli  and  the  Saloon.  Archbishop  Ireland. 

Immoral  Use  and  Sale  of  Intoxicants. 

Very  Rev.  A.  F.  Hewit,  D.D. 

A  Perplexing  Social  Evil.  Rev.  James  M.  Cleary. 

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